Gambia Pays the Price for Europe's Farmed Fish Demand

Gambian fishermen have faced a deepening crisis as their catches shrank, fuel costs rose, and foreign trawlers hauled away fish once relied on for food and income. Sardines and bonga were among the fish processed in local fishmeal factories and exported to Europe and China for feeding farmed fish.

Gambian journalist and researcher Mustapha Manneh spent years documenting how industrial fishing - much of it European - is depleting Gambia's waters and destabilising lives. Fishers were forced into dangerous waters due to dwindling stocks, while pollution from factories poisoned coastal waters further. Women who processed and sold fish also lost their livelihoods as fish supplies vanished.

In response, communities began pushing back, with some calling for an end to EU fishing agreements and others demanding transparency in global seafood supply chains. Manneh warned that what Europe labels as "sustainable" farmed fish often came at the cost of African jobs, food security, and futures.