'Piracy fallout of illegal fishing'

NEW DELHI: The warships and the helicopters are all over the Gulf of Aden. But Somalia’s pirates are still at it: attacking oil tankers, taking
hostages and raking in ransom money. Earlier this month the Turkish vessel MV Yasa Neslihan and the Saudi Sirius Star, hijacked in October and November 2008 respectively, were released after hefty ransoms were paid. Again, last week the pirates released 25 Indian sailors of the Liberian flag vessel, MT Biscaglia.

But many familiar with the situation in Somalia feel the pirates are more sinned against than sinning. A sizeable section of the Somali diaspora insists that piracy has emerged in reaction to illegal fishing and unlawful dumping of toxic wastes. A pirate group currently holding a Ukrainian vessel calls itself the “Somali Youth Coastguard.” They insist they are discharging the duties of the coastguard Somalia does not have.

Their accusations are not entirely unfounded. The tsunami of 2004 had washed some of the evidence ashore. In January 2005 the ministry of fisheries, ports and marine transport of Puntland in north-east Somalia, had asked the UN Environment Programme to assess the environmental damage caused by the tsunami. The report prepared by the UNEP said the tsunami’s impact “stirred up hazardous waste deposits on the beaches.”

Somalia can barely deal with its own waste but it “reportedly received countless shipments of illegal nuclear and toxic waste dumped along the coastline. From the early 1980s, the hazardous waste comprised uranium radioactive waste, lead, cadmium, mercury, industrial, hospital, chemical, leather treatment and other toxic waste.” They poisoned the soil, the water, even the air.

Farah Aw-Osman, president, Canadian Friends of Somalia, thinks that in the final analysis, it is illegal fishing that is to blame. “The problem started when illegal fishing trawlers destroyed the nets of local fishermen and depleted fish stock,” she says. Somalia-based journalist Mohamed Abshir Waldo, agrees. He says that while the anarchy and the relative ease in gathering ransom are partly responsible for the growth of piracy, “it started with fishermen fighting to protect their fishing grounds from armed illegal vessels.” This conflict got out of hand and led to the current situation, they say.

On India’s involvement, Waldo says, “We wished India would not join the western wolves. We expected India to help us with practical short and long-term solutions that are both enforceable and sustainable.”