Don't forget Somalia

“The Somalis are turning back into fishermen, but they still remember the lessons they learned as pirates.”

Pirates are opportunistic by nature.  Consider the following if you will.  How does one become a pirate? Why does one become a pirate?

It’s certainly is not for the faint of heart. Every day you risk imprisonment and death. 

Humans, by their very nature are risk averse if they can help it. So why do people turn to piracy? The answer is simple. Because they feel there’s no other choice. 

When it comes to protecting themselves and their loved ones, common sense is the first thing to go out the window. Thoughts of morality and law are superseded by instinct. East & West Africa. Southeast Asia & South America. All regions ravaged by socioeconomic inequality. Rampant crime and corruption. Political instability and malicious opportunism. 

People living in these regions know what it means to be truly vulnerable. And if by premeditated action, or mere happenstance, they are backed into a corner from which there is seemingly no escape, make no mistake, they will start to reevaluate their priorities. 

Somalia is a characteristic example of what happens when desperation meets anarchy. 

In the early 80’s, Somali coastal development received a significant investment boost which resulted in the creation of a thriving fishing economy. The local Somali population greatly benefited from this, as more and more people turned towards fishing. The unexploited marine stocks of Somalia were a lucrative opportunity for both Somali citizens and foreign investors. 

However, the collapse of the Somali government following their civil war and the subsequent disbanding of the Somali Navy,all but ensured that the exploitation of Somali resources by foreign elements would proceed uncontested. Foreign fishing trawlers began fishing illegally in the region and vessels would dump hazardous waste off the Somali coast. 

People with very little to lose got backed into a corner. 

The maritime industry is well acquainted with what followed. An unprecedented series of attacks over several years. 

It took the UN Security Council more than a decade to effectively curtail piracy in the region. 

Today, Somalia is a country torn by infighting and lawlessness. The central government doesn’t have much influence outside Mogadishu and struggles to keep what little semblance of control it has. But regardless of the instability present in the region, many areas in Somalia are thriving, and that is because of piracy itself. 

A lot of cash from the pirates went back into the local communities, providing a massive economic boost to the region, slowly turning humble hamlets into burgeoning boomtowns. 

The uncomfortable truth is that piracy worked out for the Somali people. 

Furthermore, since foreign fishing trawlers dare not enter Somali waters, the once depleting fish stocks of Somalia have greatly recovered due to the lack of commercial-scale fishing.1 

The Somalis are slowly turning back into fishermen.2 But they still remember the lessons they learned as pirates. Piracy works. Foreign vessels might not listen to your pleas, but they will listen to your guns. 

The majority of the local populace in Somalia still believes that piracy is a legitimate way of defending the country’s territorial waters.3 

Granted, piracy levels in Somalia nowadays are at an all-time low. However, policymakers are beginning to forget past lessons, and history is threatening to repeat itself. In late December, Somalia arranged fishing licenses for up to 31 Chinese vessels. 

More specifically, the licenses are associated with China’s Overseas Fisheries Association, a distant-water trawling group created back in 2012 with the aim of promoting China’s fishing industry abroad. 

This move on behalf of the Somali government carries with it significant risk. 

Over in West Africa, Chinese vessels have often been accused of draining fish stocks, using clandestine methods to obtain fishing licenses, threatening the livelihood of fishermen in the process.4 

Truth of the matter is, Somalia lacks the means with which to police its fisheries. The absence of such infrastructure is what led to the birth of Somali piracy in the first place.

If the country lacks the power to enforce its policies, how can they be sure that the Chinese fishing fleets will abide by the regulations put in place?

Admittedly, Beijing is doing its part to try and crack down on such activities5, but when there is significant profit to be made people will find a way of bending the rules in order to get to it.

Just last week, the Argentine Navy opened fire on Chinese vessels fishing illegally in their EEZ.6 Iran has proceeded to detain Chinese trawlers that have been caught fishing in their waters.7 The Chinese commercial fishing sector has time and again shown a blatant disregard for international law. Are their unofficial established practices going to change all of a sudden?

The burning question here remains. Are there any guarantees that China won’t be depleting Somalia’s freshly recovered fisheries?

There is no clear answer, and if that ends up being the case, Somalis will once again be put between a rock and a hard place. 

And when that happens, they will turn to their old ways. Because as far as Somalis are concerned: Piracy works. 

We might have become better at combating piracy at sea, but the conditions that created pirates in the first place are still here. 

Ignoring them at a legislative level might carry potential short-term benefits, but it is not without its fair share of long-term military risks. 

1 -https://web.archive.org/web/20101025135024/https://a24media.com/downloads/pdf/scripts/english/kenyan_fishermen_celebrate_somali_pirates.pdf

2 - https://youtu.be/IrPq9iiG8n8

3 - https://www.huffingtonpost.com/johann-hari/you-are-being-lied-to-abo_b_155147.html

4 - https://qz.com/africa/1421270/chinese-companies-dominate-ghanas-industrial-fishing-sector/

5 - https://qz.com/africa/1228703/china-deals-with-illegally-fishing-in-west-africa-canceling-licenses-and-removing-subsidies/

6 - https://arxmaritime.com/news/argentine-coast-guard-opens-fire-on-chinese-fishing-trawler/

7 - https://www.fleetmon.com/maritime-news/2019/25421/iran-revolutionary-guards-arresting-chinese-fishin/