Illegal fishing in Africa

Fishing outside local, national, and international regulations causes the disturbance of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems in the countries of Africa.

[1] People living in local African communities may fish illegally in order to improve their income and lifestyle.

Oftentimes the overpopulation of specific species, aquatic or terrestrial, can have negative effects on the ecosystem, including humans’ health.

[10] Schistosomiasis is the second most common neglected tropical disease caused by a parasite in sub-Saharan Africa and is part of the deaths of about 534,000 persons every year.

The decline in the economy is causing a large population of African people to emigrate to European countries in order to find a job that allows them to meet their daily necessities.

[13] Most of the time the revenue obtained from illegal fishing goes to large foreign companies, while local people only receive a small portion.

[14] African communities greatly depend on seafood and terrestrial wild animals to obtain their daily portion of proteins.

[16] When overfishing caused by illegal fishing reduces the seafood stock, African people risk their life and hunt dangerous and/or protected animals.

[2] Local African men, large scale foreign fisheries, and organized crime syndicates take part on this activity as this is a very lucrative trade.

Sea turtles also face indirect threats when commercial and local fisheries catch them during the fishing of other aquatic animals.

A large amount of the seafood that is consumed by people living in the United States does not always come from legal fishing.