The executive summary of a report by Amnesty International on overfishing in Gambia.
Fish is an essential resource for Gambia and Gambians. The fishing industry plays an important part in the Gambian economy, as it is the case in West Africa in general. The communities in coastal towns in Gambia such as Sanyang rely heavily on pelagic fishes for their daily protein intake, as well as their economic activities. Sanyang is a tourism hub where various lodges and restaurant owners rely on the fish market to supply their businesses. However, the fishing industry in the country has been subjected to increasing competing demands over the past few years, prompting overfishing with adverse socio-economic and environmental impacts. Indeed, in addition to artisanal fishermen providing fish to the community, foreign industrial trawlers and fishmeal and fish oil factories have been adding pressure to the marine resources.
Amnesty International conducted desk research and field research in Sanyang and Banjul on 1-8 June 2021 and 20 March-1 April 2022 aiming at looking at the human rights impact of overfishing in Sanyang and the role of fishmeal factories. The delegates interviewed 63 people, including Sanyang village chief, fishermen, fish processors, people in the hospitality business, daily workers for the fishmeal and fish oil factory Nessim Fishing And Fish Processing Co., Ltd (Nessim), women working in the gardens nearby the factory, a microbiologist, journalists, representatives of the police, the National Environmental Agency (NEA) and Gambia Red Cross. Amnesty International requested meetings and sent letters requesting information to representatives of relevant ministries, including the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Natural Resources, the Ministry of Fisheries and Water Resources and the Ministry of Trade, Industry, Regional Integration, but was unable to get meetings or receive answers to the information requested. The delegation met with the manager of Nessim fishmeal factory in Sanyang, but he referred the delegates to the manager of Nessim Trading Company in Banjul, whom the delegates were unable to meet despite a request. On 27 January 2023, Amnesty International received a letter from Nessim partially responding to the request for information we sent. Amnesty International sent right to reply letters to relevant authorities and all fishmeal factories based in Gambia between 27 April and 13 May 2023. At the time of publication of this report, Amnesty International has only received a reply from Nessim.
The report highlights the multiple fishing actors in Gambia, in particular in Sanyang, who put pressure on the marine resources, in addition to traditional fishing. The Gambian government has fishing agreements with the European Union and several countries including Senegal, which allow boats from those countries to fish inside Gambian waters. In addition, the government has been struggling with illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. Indeed, it is estimated that Gambia, Mauritania, Senegal, Guinea Bissau, Guinea, and Sierra Leone lose USD 2.3 billion annually to illegal fishing. Boats conduct IUU fishing in several ways including by failing to have the proper fishing permit or registration, coming closer to the coast than authorized, or using nets with a smaller mesh size than allowed.
Between 2016 and 2018, three fishmeal and fish oil factories started operating in Gambia. Those factories turn pelagic fishes such as bonga and sardinella into fish oil or a powder called fishmeal that they then export to feed farm animals or voracious fishes in Asia, America and Europe. Fish oil is also used as food supplement in the form of pills. There is a lack of transparency as to the supply chain of the factories' products and the quantity of products exported. This is in contradiction with article 19 and article 25(a) of the ICCPR which recognize respectively the right of citizens to seek and receive information and the right "to take part in the conduct of public affairs, directly or through freely chosen representatives." The right to receive information also includes information on environmental related matters. In addition, fishmeal factories benefit from several exemptions including sale taxes for imported products and turnover taxes, while adding only 2.9% to the national growth. In Sanyang, though the benefits for the locals in terms of employment is unclear, some people earn money from Nessim Fishing And Fish Processing Co., Ltd (Nessim), a fishmeal and fish oil company created by Nessim Trading Company and operating in the town since 2018, including fishermen mostly coming specifically from Senegal to work with the factory, West African men carrying baskets from the boats to the factory, those counting the baskets and those working inside the factory.
The state has a duty to ensure consultation with the population potentially affected by new development projects. However, information about most fishing agreements between Gambia and other countries, as well as data of boats fishing inside the country, are not easily accessible and some of these agreements were not even examined by the National Assembly in contradiction with national law. The Environmental Impact Assessment Study (EIAS) is overseen by the National Environmental Agency (NEA) and addresses the potential negative environmental impacts of a company. In the context of the EIAS, a company is required to demonstrate public consultation was done before working on a project, especially with members of the community which may be more impacted by the project. According to Nessim, the company performed community consultation before opening the factory, including a series of meetings with the community with whom they had a "cordial agreement". However, many people Amnesty International interacted with who are directly impacted by the factory were not aware of its arrival. This points to a failure by the company to meaningfully consult people who were going to be affected by the activities of the factory. Nessim should have ensured a thorough consultation as part of a human rights due diligence process.
Besides the issue of thorough consultation, the economic and social rights of the local people of Sanyang, including the right to food and the right to work, are threatened as a consequence of the activities of all fishing actors.
Artisanal fishermen met by Amnesty International complain about their fishnets being cut down daily by foreign boats coming closer to the shore than authorized, thereby causing substantial economic loss.
Moreover, according to these fishermen, those foreign industrial vessels fish regularly, emptying the water resources irrespective of regulations forbidding them to fish in a zone reserved for artisanal fishermen, thereby forcing them to go fish further and longer into the sea.
Artisanal fish processors and fish traders are also impacted by fish scarcity and the rising cost of fish. Fish driers are essentially women, buying and drying fishes before selling them. Fish smokers are men and women smoking fishes before selling them.
Both groups have expressed frustration over the reduced availability of fish in the past five years. Those specializing in bigger fishes face the consequences of the presence of industrial trawlers in Gambian waters, while those smoking bonga and sardinella principally face tough competition from the fishmeal factory.
Overfishing contributes to the risk of food insecurity in the country.
The activities of industrial boats (legal and illegal) as well as the fishmeal factories contributed to the reduction of marine resources over the years.
Fish, especially bonga and sardinella, due to their affordability, represent the most important source of animal protein for the local population. However, according to the European Commission, about 19,300 tonnes of fish is exported annually through the activities of fishmeal factories, foreign industrial vessels and fish processors targeting foreign markets. Nessim fishmeal factory targets the pelagic fishes most consumed by the local population, thereby threatening the availability of those fishes in the local market. In fact, the industry needs a significant amount of fish: it takes about 4.5kg of fish to make 1kg of fishmeal.
Owners of restaurants are other actors affected by fish scarcity and the rising cost of fish. They claim that the fish they use such as ladyfishes and butterfishes are getting harder to find and prices are rising, in part because local fishermen supplying them are facing tough competition from industrial trawlers whose activities do not benefit the local market.
There are also specific community complaints about potential environmental, economic and social impact due to the activity of the Nessim fishmeal factory in Sanyang that the national authorities should investigate in the framework of its annual review of the EIAS. According to Nessim, they "respect and follow the laws as they relate to human rights to the best of [its] understanding of the said laws" and when the factory operates, "the town is always busy with different businesses at the fish landing site, [with] women busy selling at the site and working at the factory that also earn them a lot." However, women working in the gardens behind the factory alleged that their productivity diminished since the factory opened due to an increase in pests infecting their vegetables, which they attribute to the odorous pollution coming from the factory. As a result, they are struggling to grow vegetables, especially tomatoes and have seen their profit decreased. Amnesty International asks the authorities to investigate the potential environmental and economic impact of the factory's activities on the gardens and the gardeners. Another group that claims to be negatively impacted by the factory are Owners of restaurants, lodges and juice bars. They took advantage of the increase in tourism in the region in general and along the beaches in particular to foster their business, but the arrival of the fishmeal factory and the start of the Covid-19 pandemic hampered their activities. According to them, the factory's activities are more damaging in the long term. As one restaurant owner explained: "If the coronavirus has bankrupted businesses, the fishmeal factory is doing worse than that [...] We know corona would last a particular moment in time but the fishmeal factory we do not know when we are going to be out of the situation." They say they lose clients due to the noxious smell coming from the factory when it is operating, which reaches the lodges and restaurants along the beach. Amnesty International delegates experienced the noxious smell coming from the factory, which can at times reach the village.
In addition, the fishmeal factory in Sanyang was sanctioned for violating environmental procedures and guidelines. In 2018, during the first year of its operations, Nessim factory was suspended by the NEA for almost six months for not having the proper discharging plant to treat their wastewater. There were news reports of the wastewater allegedly being dumped into the roads and the vegetable gardens. The company subsequently built a waste treatment plant according to the NEA and Nessim, as well as a wastepipe to discharge the wastewater into the ocean. In 2020, the company was fined twice by the NEA for not properly treating their wastewater.
Moreover, on at least three occasions between 2019 and 2021, news outlets reported that Sanyang beach was crowded with dead fish and the Amnesty International delegation noted dead fish on the beach during its visits in 2021 and 2O22. Fishermen working with Nessim told Amnesty International they dump dead fish back into the water when turned away by the factory. To make matters worse, the fishmeal factory targets at least one fish species that is already overexploited (sardinella) and, according to interviews with local fishermen and the fishnets observed by the Amnesty International delegation, fishermen working with the factory use nets with a very small mesh size, which means that at times they get juvenile fish. Fishing juvenile fish risks preventing the stock from replenishing itself hence why Gambia regulates mesh sizes.
Finally, all fishing actors also contribute to environmental damage, notably by fishing some species that are already overexploited, according to FAO and regional bodies. Indeed, the FAO indicated that stocks of grouper, deepwater rose shrimp, cuttlefish, sardinella and bonga are overexploited while stocks of sardine are not fully exploited but still require precautionary measures. The socio-economic and environmental impacts of overfishing in Gambia are in contradiction with Gambia's obligations under the ICESCR and the African Charter on Human and Peoples' rights, specifically regarding the right to food, the right to work and the right to health. The government has a duty to protect against human rights abuses by all actors including companies. As such, the government should pass legislation requiring companies to conduct human rights due diligence in their operations and supply chains and ensure proper monitoring of Gambia waters against IUU. In addition, the government must show transparency and allow easy public access to information about fishmeal factories and foreign trawlers. Finally, an investigation into the potential socio-economic and environmental impacts associated with the activities of the factory must be conducted.
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Nessim fishmeal factory has the responsibility to respect all human rights whenever they operate and this irrespective of the state's own human rights responsibilities as described in the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. As such, the company should avoid contributing to human rights abuses through their activities and address impacts in which they are involved, including by remediating any actual impact. Nessim should be practising an ongoing and proactive human rights due diligence process to identify, prevent, mitigate and account for how to address the factory's impact on human rights. Where it identifies that its activities have a negative human rights impact, it needs to cease that activity. In addition, the company must be transparent about its due diligence practices. Given the potential high economic and environmental impact of its activities, it must phase out the catch of overexploited species as assessed by the FAO.
The international community must regulate the fish-based feed industry to limit the use of fishmeal and fish oil (FMFO) made from fish that are already overexploited and increase transparency as to the origins of the fish. All companies in the fishmeal supply chain should also be conducting human rights due diligence, which can include public reporting about the origins of their products. Companies purchasing fishmeal should map their supply chains and analyse the human rights risks that they may be directly linked to, through their relationship with suppliers.
On 15 March 2021, a protest that turned violent took place in Sanyang after a fisherman who worked for the factory allegedly killed a man from Sanyang. The local population directed its frustration towards the Senegalese fishermen and the fishmeal factory, burning substantial fishing equipment and part of the factory building. Subsequently, at least 50 people were arrested, some of them arbitrarily, and detained under poor conditions. While most were released, 14 men were charged with conspiracy to commit misdemeanour, unlawful assembly and riot, and five others were charged with going armed in public, shop breaking, theft, arson, damage to property, conspiracy to commit arson, unlawful assembly and riot. Several men alleged having been victims of torture and other ill-treatment while being arrested or while being detained at the anti- crime unit. According to testimonies collected, at least two men were forced to sign a document without knowing its content while in detention after being arrested. The case against the group of five men was dismissed by the court on 21 February 2022. The case against the group of 14 men is still pending.
Gambia is a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. As such, it has the obligation to ensure detainees are free from torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Thus, the government must conduct prompt, thorough, impartial and effective investigations into allegations of torture and other ill-treatment. The authorities should also ensure the full respect of fair trial rights and due process, including a trial without undue delays and the right to a defence.
