Around Mbour, one of the largest ports in Senegal, artisanal fishermen have always been part of the landscape.
Aboard a canoe, a fishing line in hand, they are on the lookout for fish that will then join the stalls of businesses in the country and those of neighboring states.
But in recent years, the loot of these fishermen has become increasingly meager.
In question, the industrial overfishing practiced by large foreign trawlers a few kilometers away.
"Before, 7 or 8 km from the coast, we had a lot of fish. Today, even going about thirty kilometers, we fish almost nothing. Fishing is no longer profitable", explains to France 24 , Ibrahima Niang.
"They only leave us crumbs"
This fisherman, like his colleagues, accuses the big foreign trawlers of emptying the seabed.
The sea has been sold to foreign ships.
They only leave us crumbs", deplores Pape Sakho, who preferred to give up the job a few months ago. "The only solution left to us, we who know the ocean well, is to attempt the crossing to 'Europe," he said.
The disarray of the men of Mbour, Abdoulaye Ndiaye knows it well.
This former fisherman, now in charge of the Ocean campaign at Greenpeace Africa, works closely with local communities and calls on the authorities to manage fisheries resources sustainably.
"If there were fish, the fishing boxes would be filled," he laments.
"These boats scrape the oceans of Senegal and neighboring countries and deprive millions of people of food. We must not forget that it is artisanal fishing that feeds the Senegalese in the interior, but also neighboring countries such as Benin. , Burkina Faso, Mali and others."
In total, according to the Senegalese authorities, 20% of the population lives directly or indirectly from fishery products.
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