The Scourge of Illegal Fishing on Artisanal Fishers in Cameroon

By Shuimo Trust Dohyee

______________________

Down Beach, one of Cameroon’s prominent fish markets and landing sites for artisanal fishers, stands proudly in the coastal town of Limbe, overlooking the vast Atlantic Ocean. The beach is littered with plastic waste, juxtaposed against a fleet of wooden boats and canoes.

Lucky Eden, 49, paddles vigorously toward the shore in the morning in a small canoe. As he anchors on the beach, a few fish are visible in the canoe. “That’s my catch for the day,” he remarks, without looking at the direction of his canoe. Until July this year, Eden was not using a canoe; his previous wooden boat, powered by a 15-horsepower outboard engine, was destroyed by a “Chinese fishing vessel” with registration number K06/2024.  “I have been renting this canoe for XAF 10,000 ($16.18) every week since my boat was destroyed”, he says. 

Down Beach, Limbe. Photo Credit: Shuimo Trust D.

Eden’s story reflects the struggles of over 34,355 documented artisanal fishers in Cameroon, bearing the brunt of illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing that has almost taken the country’s waters hostage. The prevalence of IUU fishing and the government’s inability to combat it pushed the European Union to issue a “red card” to Cameroon in January 2023, effectively banning the importation of seafood from the West African nation. 

As I chatted with Eden at Down Beach, a group of women fishmongers could be seen nearly fighting among themselves to claim the limited catch that artisanal fishers like him brought ashore at various intervals. “It happens like this every day,” he says,  “the poor catch we’ve been experiencing affects not only us fishers but also the fishmongers who rely on the fish we bring from the sea to make a living”

Though originally from Nigeria, Eden has been fishing in Cameroon for the past 25 years. Photo Credit: Shuimo Trust D.

He recounted the harrowing story of how his boat was wrecked by this Chinese fishing vessel, his voice filled with agony and pain. In Cameroon, the fishing regulations mandate that artisanal fishers operate within three nautical miles from the shore, while industrial fishing vessels are required to remain three nautical miles offshore but industrial fishers keep encroaching on the fishing space of their artisanal counterparts. 

“All of a sudden, I saw this vessel speeding toward where I had cast my net while waiting in my boat,” he recalls. “I had to jump into the sea to save my life.” The vessel collided with his boat, destroying both the outboard engine and his fishing nets. As he swam toward the shore, three military personnel from the fishing vessel rescued him, although they were unable to recover his fishing gears. This rescue marked the beginning of another nightmare for Eden who thought he was finally safe. 

The monetary value of his lost equipment totalled approximately XAF 2,380,000 ($3850). However, the vessel owners offered him less than a quarter of that amount as compensation. “ After beating me mercilessly, they  threatened to kill and dump me in the sea if I didn’t take what they offered as compensation.” Under duress, Eden ultimately accepted XAF 400,000 ($ 647) as compensation. “One of the military personnel in the vessel took XAF 50,000 ($ 80.)from me by force”, he says,   “and I was left with just XAF 350,000 ($ 566)”

Since the EU issued a red card to Cameroon, efforts have been made by both the government and non-governmental organisations to combat illegal fishing, though it continues to bloom. Illegal maritime fishing costs Cameroon approximately XAF 20 billion ($ 33 million) annually, while the government spends at least XAF 102 billion ($ 165 million) each year on fish imports.  

Twenty-year-old Sakwe Banard, a fisherman in Limbe, has lost over XAF 400,000 ($647) worth of fishing nets to industrial fishing vessels in 2024, without receiving any compensation. Photo Credit: Shuimo Trust D.

In Londji, another fishing community in the coastal town of Kribi which I also visited, fishermen face challenges similar to those of Eden. “I have lodged complaints with the Marine Marshal (navy unit) overseeing our activities and the Gendarmerie unit in Limbe, but nothing has been done,” Eden states. “I suspect they have been bribed to ignore my case.”

One of Eden’s complaints, as he continues to pursue justice, which seems elusive.

I attempted to match the registration number of the “Chinese fishing vessel” that wrecked Eden’s boat against the list of authorised fishing vessels in Cameroon, but it did not match. This suggests that the vessel was either operating illegally in Cameroonian waters or had deliberately altered its registration number to evade accountability. Until Cameroon takes decisive action, the livelihoods of artisans like Eden, along with countless other fishers in Cameroon, remain precarious.

Attribution: 

While the content of this article is made possible under the Promoting Transparency, Accountability and Local Capacity to Address the Destabilizing Impacts of Foreign-Owned Distant Water Fishing Vessels (DWFV) in the Gulf of Guinea and the Waters of Mauritania project, the opinions and connotations are entirely that of the Author and do not reflect the position or alignment of the funding agency – U.S. Department of State or the project implementing partners, the Centre for Maritime Law and Security (CEMLAWS) Africa, and the Centre for Coastal Management (CCM) at the University of Cape Coast.