At the beginning of this year, the sight of locusts wreaking havoc in the suffering of eastern Africa is still vividly remembered. Although the locusts have migrated, there has been an epidemic again, and what is more fatal is that it is said that the offspring left by the first wave of locusts will soon hatch, and a heavy locust plague that is 20 times stronger than the first wave is brewing, which makes people shiver when they hear it. Isn't there a land where the most miserable continent on earth can survive happily?
I couldn't eat enough, and I had to feed the locusts
There is also a well-known fishing ground in West Africa, and the residents of the nearby coastal countries at least do not have to face the loess and turn their backs to the sky as hard farmers, right? It is also true that fishing seafood from the sea is more efficient and less costly than animal husbandry and farming, and the overall risk is relatively small in addition to facing various emergencies at sea. Therefore, according to the reason, the lives of the residents of these coastal areas should be relatively better, but even if there are good days, they cannot escape the fate of being eaten clean by the "locusts" in the sea, "saiko" (saiko).
<h1>What is a "saiko"</h1>
The word first came from Japanese fishermen. In the 1970s, Japanese fishermen used the term "saiko" (lowest) to describe "bad/garbage" fish discarded by trawlers. But for the poor African people, it is good to have a stutter, which will be picky, so these small fish such as sardines and mackerel, which are called "garbage fish" by the Japanese, because of the large quantity and cheap price, are the highest consumption of food for local residents in Africa, and they are their high-quality protein sources. For poor Africans, the meaning of "Secco" has changed again to "good/useful" fish.
African people with "Saiko" overhead Image source: Environmental Justice Foundation
<h1>"SECCO" trade</h1>
The "Secco" trade began as an informal mode of trade along the coast of West Africa. Foreign industrial fishing vessels (trawlers) will sell the useless "small trash fish" they catch to the local small wooden boats that specialize in receiving goods in exchange for other items. Informal trade, which was originally marginalized, slowly became mainstream with the depletion of fishery resources. According to the regulations, these industrial trawlers are allowed to catch benthic fish, but because Africa lacks strong national control of fishery resources, all kinds of economic fishery resources in West Africa's fisheries have long been slowly squeezed clean by these industrial trawlers. Soon, these industrial fishing boats found that they were still catching small fish and had a lot of money, so they simply specialized in the "Saiko" trade.
Industrial fishing vessels trawling
<h1>Can big boats catch small fish and make money? </h1>
The London-based Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) conducted a survey of Ghana, the hardest hit area of the "SECCO" trade. According to the Environmental Justice Foundation, in 2017, Ghana's illegal "Saiko" fishing (large boats catching small fish and selling them at sea to small boats) reached 100,000 tons. The amount of money these catches allow these industrial fishing vessels to profit directly at sea is about $41 million to $51 million, and most of this money goes to the multinational fishing companies behind the fishing vessels. Fishmongers then freeze the collected fish into chunks and sell them to local residents. As large boats join the ranks of catching small fish, it has brought a double blow to the local economy and ecology.
Wooden boats engaged in the "Saiko" trade, small fishing boats used by local fishermen in the distance Image source: Environmental Justice Foundation
<h1>Big boats grab the jobs of small boats</h1>
With the addition of the big boats, it was the local indigenous fishermen who bore the brunt of the attack. Due to limited funds, local Fishermen in Ghana rely on small boats to catch small fish in the upper middle class to make a living. Although the catches are all "small trash fish" of low value, the market is huge and can still be barely maintained. In recent years, with the increasing number of small boats, small pelagic fish resources such as sardines and mackerel have been in a hurry, and these large and efficient boats have exacerbated the collapse of "small trash fish" resources.
Kofi Agboga, head of the Ghanaian NGO Hen Mpoano, said that "Secco" fishing has had a deadly impact on Ghana's fisheries. Over the past 10-15 years, the income of small fishing vessels has fallen by 40%. Although the increasing number of small local fishing boats is also to blame, the main trouble comes from these efficient large boats, so that more and more small fishing boats can not catch fish, fishermen are forced to lose their livelihoods, and the local unemployment rate is fiercely boosted.
"Small trash fish" dominated by sardines
<h1>Eating fish also depends on imports</h1>
The aforementioned illegal "Saiko" fish in Ghana in 2017 was traded at sea for about $41 million to $51 million, while the price of these fish at the port reached 53 million to 81 million, directly driving up local prices and making many poor residents unable to afford to eat cheap seafood. In West Africa, whether coastal or inland, this cheap and high-quality protein source contracts the protein intake of most African people, ensuring the health of the local population.
"Saiko" fishing has exacerbated the fish shortage, raised fish prices, and forced the originally self-sufficient fishing town to rely on imports to survive. Today, more than half of Ghana's domestic consumption of seafood products is imported. Those who are already poor can only reduce the consumption of fish, and insufficient fish intake will inevitably have an unpredictable impact on people's health. Steve Trent, executive director of the Environmental Justice Foundation, said that the "SECCO" fishing triggered a man-made ecological crisis, depriving local people of their livelihoods and trapped in income and food security.
The average poor person can only consume these low-grade fish Image source: Network
<h1>The government's "powerlessness."</h1>
Although as early as 2002, Ghana passed a law prohibiting any foreign (holding) vessel from flying the Ghanaian flag for industrial fishing, thereby protecting the country's fishing revenues. But those fishing companies have a way to exploit loopholes. They use "front companies" to import their vessels into Ghana and obtain fishing licenses, and use various means to disguise the identity of foreign investors to circumvent censorship. And the poorer the country, the more corrupt and degenerate the political apparatus, the weaker the regulation and law enforcement, the more space for foreign-funded enterprises to operate, and the more the lives of the poor are more in full swing.
<h1>epilogue:</h1>
The Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) has also made recommendations for the Ghanaian government, including clarifying the legal status of "SECCO" fishing; thoroughly investigating the main cases and companies involved; strengthening cooperation with governments to combat illegal fishing enterprises; and setting up a strict fishing regime. Although they are all good suggestions for the right medicine, if the government does not have a strong implementation capacity, all this will be impossible to talk about, and we can only watch this "locust" in the sea hollow out Africa's marine resources step by step.
Reference: Ghana loses tens of millions of dollars a year to Secco fishing chinadialogue