From: wolda002@umn.edu
Date: Sun Jul 27 2008 - 15:30:44 EDT
UN envoy decries illegal fishing, waste dumping off Somalia
by Gerard AziakouFri Jul 25, 7:05 PM ET
The UN special envoy for Somalia on Friday sounded the alarm about rampant
illegal fishing and the dumping of toxic waste off the coast of the lawless
African nation.
"Because there is no (effective) government, there is so much irregular
fishing from European and Asian countries," Ahmedou Ould Abdallah told
reporters.
He said he had asked several international non-governmental organizations,
including Global Witness, which works to break the links between natural
resource exploitation, conflict, corruption, and human rights abuses
worldwide, "to trace this illegal fishing, illegal dumping of waste."
"It is a disaster off the Somali coast, a disaster (for) the Somali
environment, the Somali population," he added.
Ould Abdallah said the phenomenon helps fuel the endless civil war in
Somalia as the illegal fishermen are paying corrupt Somali ministers or
warlords for protection or to secure fake licenses.
East African waters, particularly off Somalia, have huge numbers of
commercial fish species, including the prized yellowfin tuna.
Foreign trawlers reportedly use prohibited fishing equipment, including
nets with very small mesh sizes and sophisticated underwater lighting
systems, to lure fish to their traps.
"I am convinced there is dumping of solid waste, chemicals and probably
nuclear (waste).... There is no government (control) and there are few
people with high moral ground," Ould Abdallah added.
Allegations of waste dumping off Somalia by European companies have been
heard for years, according to Somalia watchers. The problem was highlighted
in the wake of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami when broken hazardous waste
containers washed up on Somali shores.
But world attention has recently focused on piracy off Somalia, which has
taken epidemic proportions since the country sank into chaos after warlords
ousted the late president Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991.
Somalia's coastal waters are now considered to be among the most dangerous
in the world, with more than 25 ships seized by pirates there last year
despite US navy patrols, according to the International Maritime Bureau.
Some Somali pirates have reportedly claimed to be acting as "coastguards"
protecting their waters from illegal fishing and dumping of toxic waste.
Ould Abdallah cited the case of a Spanish trawler captured by pirates while
illegally fishing for tuna off Somalia in April.
He said payment of a ransom for the release of the crew "was done in a very
sophisticated manner" with the pirates arranging by phone "to be paid in
Macau."
The Spanish government said in late April that it paid no ransom to secure
the release of the crew of the Playa de Bakio after six days of captivity.
But Andrew Mwangura of the Kenya chapter of the Seafarers Assistance
Program then said a ransom of 1.2 million dollars (768,000 euros) was paid.
On Friday, Estonia urged the European Union to take stronger action against
Somali pirates attacking cargo ships bound for Europe, after an Estonian
sailor was held hostage for 41 days.
On Sunday pirates seized a 52,000-tonne Japanese vessel and its 21 crew
members off the Somali coast.
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