For nearly four decades, illegal foreign-owned fleets have devastated Sierra Leone’s once sustainable fisheries industry.

Sierra Leone’s 400 km Atlantic coastline once contained abundant marine resources crucial to the nation’s economy. Fishing contributes 12% of the country’s gross domestic product and is the primary source of protein for 80% of the population. The industry employs around 500 000 people out of a population of eight million.

But these jobs and economic benefits are in jeopardy. They have already dwindled and are under continual threat from the brazen network of foreign vessels engaged in illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing along Sierra Leone’s coast, including exclusion zones designated for local fishers.

Illicit fishing is a transnational organised crime that generates billions of dollars annually in profit. Ongoing government efforts to address the challenge have been largely unsuccessful.

President Julius Maada Bio said in 2020 that illegal fishing cost his country around US$50-million a year, with much of the stolen catch ending up in Asia. In contrast, only US$18-million from the legal fishing industry reached the country’s coffers.

The sector is reportedly riddled with corruption and mismanagement, and the problem seems intractable. Illegal fleets, all foreign-owned, have exploited Sierra Leone’s waters for nearly four decades. An adviser in the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources who requested anonymity said, ‘Many countries steal our fish, including neighbouring West African states.’

High-value fish species like bonga, snapper and grouper are particularly vulnerable. Illegal operators use advanced techniques to evade detection, says Pele Gandy-Williams, Sierra Leone’s Financial Crimes Working Group Chairperson. They fish in restricted zones, falsify catch data, turn off transponders on their vessels, and frequently change vessel registration to avoid tracking.

The IUU Fishing Index shows that Chinese vessels are the worst offenders, but the government is hesitant to act as it has a close relationship with China. Feeling abandoned by the government, local fishing communities have started taking the law into their own hands. Fisherman Abdul Kamara, from the Funkia coastal community near the capital Freetown, told the ENACT organised crime project that locals had begun attacking foreign boats.

Residents’ anger intensified when news broke in 2021 that China intended building a fishing harbour and fish meal processing plant at the pristine Black Johnson Beach, a protected rainforest and beach. Yielding to ongoing community resistance, the government has subsequently halted the project, says the MFMR adviser.

Current laws for fisheries management are the 2017 Fisheries and Aquaculture Act and the 2019 Fisheries and Aquaculture Regulations. This framework offers support for fisheries governance and aquaculture, with a focus on reducing illicit fishing.

The act prohibits unauthorised fishing activities, including taking, introducing, trans-shipping or purchasing fish caught illegally. It establishes a vessel monitoring, control and surveillance unit responsible for observing, monitoring and managing fishing operations, and enforcing sustainable fishing practices.

Reports on the government’s tougher stance against illegal fishing vary and can seem contradictory. The government claims that moderate gains have been made in preventing and disrupting this organised crime, particularly through tracking vessel monitoring systems each ship. However, local fishers say this is far from sufficient to curb the scope of current violations.

Offenders entering exclusion zones, where limited fishing is allowed, face fines exceeding US$1.5-million. However, enforcement relies on a single patrol boat to cover Sierra Leone’s vast coastline, and this vessel is often stuck in the harbour due to fuel shortages.

The MFMR is also contending with a significant data gap – it estimates an annual fish harvest of roughly 228 000 tonnes but lacks statistics on fish population replenishment rates. Without these details and faced with entrenched illicit fishing and harmful fishing practices, Sierra Leone’s fisheries are increasingly unsustainable.

The country urgently needs a comprehensive fisheries strategy. Such a strategy would form the cornerstone of resource management, covering monitoring, the enforcement of regulations, training, promoting sustainable practices, and fostering international collaboration to ensure compliance.

Sierra Leone acknowledges the scope of its illegal fishing problem, and has been collaborating with neighbouring countries in regional efforts to address it. This includes the West Africa Regional Fisheries Program, which aims to share information, coordinate patrols and develop joint enforcement strategies.

Some successes have been achieved. In 2021, a collaborative effort between the Sierra Leone navy and Sea Shepherd Global, an ocean conservation non-governmental organisation, led to the successful apprehension of five foreign-owned vessels operating without a licence. Two were from China and three were from South Korea.

A key challenge is that illegal fishing occurs alongside the legitimate industry, making it hard to monitor and detect. Disrupting the criminal networks requires consistent action at sea and greater enforcement of existing legislation. As a signatory to the Agreement on Port State Measures, Sierra Leone should also prioritise port-based inspections and deny docking rights to vessels known to be involved in illicit fishing.

Inter-agency and international cooperation is needed to track vessels and financial flows across complex shipping and corporate structures. As a start, Sierra Leone must engage diplomatically with nations such as China that frequently breach its territorial waters.

Written by Feyi Ogunade, West Africa Organised Crime Observatory Coordinator, ENACT, ISS

This article was first published by ENACT.