On April 2d, 2024, the Liberia Artisanal Fishermen Association (LAFA) were invited, together with some other fisheries stakeholders, by the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Authority (NaFAA) to validate a Draft Fisheries Management Plan (FMP) for a multi-species deep-water shrimp fishery, commissioned as part of the World Bank Liberia Sustainable Management Fisheries Project (LSMFP).
LAFA refused to validate the plan. In a letter addressed to the Director General of NaFAA, the artisanal fishing organisation highlights that this “will fail to deliver a sustainable or profitable deep-water shrimp fishery, cause irreparable damage to fragile marine ecosystems, jeopardise the livelihoods of over 57,000 people engaged in small-scale fisheries, and lead to an increase in conflict between artisanal and industrial vessels.”
SOPERKA: looters disguised as scientific apprentices
The draft management plan for a deep-water shrimp fishery is based on the unpublished results from the experimental fishing undertaken in 2021 and 2022 by Senegalese trawlers. Back in 2021, CFFA questioned whether these trawlers, the SOKONE, the AMINE and the KANBAL III, belonging to the Spanish company Grupo Pereira, flagged to Senegal through the joint venture company SOPERKA, were doing “experimental fishing or pillaging” of Liberian resources. The draft management plan gives the answer: between 2021 and 2022, these two trawlers have been shamelessly pillaging Liberian deep water shrimp resources, whilst bringing very little data of use to Liberian fisheries managers.
When describing the actions undertaken by SOPERKA for their so-called experimental fishing, the draft management plan reads like a catalogue of don’ts… The data they provided to the consultant who wrote the plan, James R. Wilson, showed the vessels operated for 127 days. “However”, he highlights, “while doing this analysis, it was discovered that the vessel SOKONE had not reported 2022 data. After several requests from the consultant and NaFAA, the company sent an incomplete data set which the consultant did not use, because it contained barely half of the days that he knew they fished (about 85 days), using estimates from Global Fishing Watch.”
The consultant further points out that: “the part of the species assemblage that is caught along with the target species, the deep sea shrimp, is poorly known, in part because the data from 2021 and 2022 were not collected systematically during the experimental fishery.” From a manifest obtained from the vessel SOKONE and file furnished by SOPERKA, the consultant continues, “We do know […] that some of the kept species included cephalopods, crab and hake. There were no names for rejected species.”
If the point of this “experimental fishing” was to improve the knowledge on the state of the deep-sea shrimp resources and on the impacts of fishing on the wider eco-system, then, clearly, the whole exercise has been a failure, as is confirmed by the consultant: “The agreement between NaFAA and SOPERKA led to a data collection effort that was flawed, which limited the subsequent analysis that could be done. […] The lack of rigor in the data collection is a serious issue that impeded the analysis. There were other gaps in the data: typographical errors, confusing recording of depth, time imprecise, incomplete naming of species, especially the non-targeted ones.”
Under the Senegal-Liberia Agreement, the trawlers SOKONE and the KANBAL III, belonging to the Senegalese company SOPERKA, which is part of the Grupo Pereira (Spain), received a temporary authorization for experimental fishing in Liberian waters. The SOKONE failed to provide data to Liberian authorities. Photo: Kanbal III from the Soperka website.
The vessels who took part in the experimental fishing never docked in Liberia, even for inspection. When the catches were landed in Dakar or Abidjan, a Liberian fisheries inspector was present to record the quantities of landed species. Their costs of travel, including daily subsistence allowances, were borne by the vessel owner. However, “because these vessels did not make dedicated trips to Liberia, and also fished in other zones according to GFW, it remains unclear how the catches were differentiated at the quay. This system may lead to under reporting of catches.” This is an issue not only from the point of view of fisheries management, but also for establishing the fees and royalties due to NaFAA.
In any case, the consultant conclusion is clear: “It is recommended not to invite the vessel SOKONE back into Liberian waters because their data appears less reliable than others, and their collaboration is not reliable either.”
Before starting, the deep water shrimp fishery has already been over exploited!
The plan document reminds us that ”deep sea shrimps have a slow growth rate, late maturity, low fecundity and depend on deep water ecosystems that take generations to develop. These characteristics make them vulnerable to over exploitation.” One thing the ‘experimental fishery’ by the Senegalese trawlers achieved, is to destroy the fragile habitat of soft corals and sponges the deep sea shrimps depend on, and to wipe out the targeted resource: ”The collected data suggests that the experimental fishery has already biologically and economically over exploited the scarlet shrimp resource over the last two years.”
The over-exploitation of such a vulnerable resource, together with the additional damage done by these trawlers on their fragile environment, has ruined for years any opportunities for Liberia to develop a sustainable fishery for this highly prized resource, like is the case in other countries, such as Cabo Verde, where this type of resource is sustainably caught by national vessels using traps, a static fishing gear that does not harm the environment and that is selective.
What does the fisheries management propose?
Somewhat surprisingly, despite the fact that “the evidence gives a red light – scarlet shrimp are already over exploited”, the proposed management plan does not suggest this trawl fishery should stop. It suggests that “reducing the number of licenses to one vessel is likely the best course of action, to facilitate monitoring.” According to the draft plan, this would also reduce habitat destruction, over-exploitation and incidental catches.
Other management measures proposed for this one trawler include a closed season during the spawning season of the principal target species of shrimp and a system of five years fisheries concession for allocating access to the fishery. It also calls for ”concession holders to this fishery and their parent companies to be part of the public record”, in a context where NaFAA “shall publish a list of foreign resources users.”
Artisanal fishers’ concerns: insufficient data, inequitable access model, lack of consultation
Responding to this draft management plan, Liberian artisanal fishers insist first on the fact that “there is currently insufficient data to inform sustainable harvest levels for the primary target species of shrimp, let alone the many non-target species that will be affected by this fishery. […] what little data exists suggests that the fishery is already overexploited.” LAFA is sceptical that a profitable deep sea shrimp fishery can be established. Furthermore, “the management measures proposed do not meet international standards for precautionary or ecosystem-based management.”
“The collected data suggests that the experimental fishery [by SOPERKA] has already biologically and economically over exploited the scarlet shrimp resource over the last two years””
LAFA also finds it “unreasonable to propose a long-term (5-year) exclusive access allocation system.” For them, access to the fishery should prioritise small-scale fishers. In any case, ”access to any fishing resources should be conditioned to robust data collection and analysis of target- and non-target species health as required by Liberia Fisheries Law. If such research indicates declining stocks, fishing activities that negatively affect these species - including those carried out under concessions - should be halted.”
Finally, the organization, recalling they represent the interests of the 57.000 Liberian artisanal fishers, deplores the absence of an appropriate stakeholder engagement process during the development of the management plan. “LAFA was not consulted on the FMP at any stage before the Validation Workshop.” LAFA was sent the draft FMP on April 2nd, less than two weeks before the validation workshop. ”This is a wholly insufficient amount of time in which to gather members’ feedback on the draft.”
A reserved fishing zone being eroded, threatening artisanal fishers’ livelihoods
At the heart of the artisanal fishers’ concerns, is the fact that such a fishery would increase the presence of industrial trawlers within the 6 nautical mile inshore exclusion zone (IEZ), leading to increased competition and risks of vessel collision, posing significant threats to fishers’ safety.
In 2010, a key policy change was achieved: a 6-mile zone was reserved for the small-scale fishery - trawlers had no more access to most of their main target species such as demersal shrimps. From 2011 to 2015 no industrial fishing licenses were delivered, and no industrial fishing was permitted within the 6-mile IEZ. Since 2015, 6 Chinese trawlers have been fishing outside the 6-mile zone. Some trawlers increasingly targeted pelagic species, others turned to illegal fishing within the zone. The government prosecuted those fishing illegally. As a result over that period, catches made by the small-scale fishers reportedly improved, conflict situations were reduced and the safety at sea of small-scale fishers improved.
In 2019, another change in legislation weakened the IEZ. The new legislation stipulates that although the Inshore Exclusion Zone “shall be reserved solely for the use of subsistence, artisanal and semi-industrial fishing activities”, ”a number of shrimp, cephalopods and other coastal species trawlers, in line with best scientific evidence, may be licensed to operate beyond 4 nautical mile (NM) using approved fishing gears and nets.” De facto, this reduced the zone reserved solely to small scale fishers to 4 nautical miles…
Any development of a shrimp trawl fishery, - be it only for one trawler-, is likely to increase competition with artisanal fishing, and impact key species on which artisanal fishers depend. Indeed, the draft fisheries management plan acknowledges that the deepwater shrimp fishery, with the recent law placing the outer limit out to 4NM instead of 6 NM, places four of the six species caught along with the target species in more direct competition with SSF operations: the southern pink shrimp, the guinea shrimp, the caramoye prawn and, possibly, the deep-water rose shrimp. The bathymetric range of exploitation by the experimental fishery in 2021 and 2022 was from 19 meters (with 12 hauls shallower than 50 meters): ”this casts doubts on the idea that there is no possible competition between SSF and the deepwater shrimp fishery.”
In 2017, LAFA mobilised against the “trawlers friendly” move of their government to avoid the reduction of the Inshore Exclusive Zone to be reduced from 6 to 3 nautical miles.
The plan informs that, as of March 2024, there appear to be 11 trawlers operating in Liberia (6 Chinese, 4 Spanish, one Norwegian). According to artisanal fisher’s testimonies, many of these trawlers operate within the IEZ…
Fishers call for the securing of a 6 miles reserved zone minimum
With the threat of a future trawl fishery targeting the already over-exploited deep-sea shrimp as well as other species they catch themselves, artisanal fishers represented by LAFA call on the authorities to secure a 6-mile Inshore Exclusion Zone as a minimum: “This inshore zone must be reserved, without derogation, for artisanal fishers who depend on coastal resources for their livelihoods and food security.”
Recalling that Liberia’s artisanal fisheries employ tens of thousands of fishers and fishworkers and provide food for coastal and inland communities across the country, LAFA further calls to “prioritise the development of a fully domestic, small-scale, low-impact fishery for the resources within the 6-mile zone”, insisting that “representatives of the sector must be invited to participate in this process from the outset”.
Keeping in mind the disastrous ‘exploratory fishing’ campaign for the deep-sea shrimp by the Senegalese company SOPERKA, LAFA’s final demand is to delay the development of any fishery ”until robust data are available to inform precautionary, ecosystems-based and adaptive management. If the process of collecting such data through conventional industrial trawl methods risks exacerbating the overexploitation of the target species, then alternative methods must be pursued.”
Will history repeat itself?
This is not the first time attempts are made to undermine the IEZ in Liberia, in order to let in an increasing number of trawlers. In 2017, the Executive Order No. 84 proposed to reduce Liberia Inshore Exclusive Zone (IEZ) from six nautical miles to three, which would have spelled disaster for local artisanal fishers. LAFA mobilized, with the support of CAOPA and CFFA, the Executive order was not implemented, and the IEZ remained at 6 miles, until 2019, when the new Law allowed trawlers to come in the IEZ up to 4 miles. With the current mobilization of the Liberia artisanal fishing sector, it is to be hoped that the IEZ will, once again, be restored and protected for the benefits of local fishing communities
Banner photo: Overview of Monrovia, Liberia, from Canva Pro.
Although the protocol does not allow European fleets to fish for small pelagics because they are overexploited, at least 4 European vessels have reportedly reflagged to Guinea-Bissau and are fishing for these species in the region, jeopardising the region's food security and competing with small-scale fisheries.