SOPERKA, a Senegalese fishing company, in a joint venture with the Spanish company Grupo Pereira, wished to react to our article “Experimental fishing or experimental pillaging in Liberia?”
Mr Kandji, Managing Director, Mr Serrano, from the company Pereira, adviser to SOPERKA for its fishing operations, and Mr Perez Bouzada, a lawyer, who defends the interests of the company Pereira, expressed their views on a series of issues raised in the article.
Who is SOPERKA?
SOPERKA S.A is a Senegalese-Hispanic company created in 1999 under the name of KANBAL PECHE. In 2006, it changed its name to SOPERKA S.A. Specialising in the export of fishery products, based in Dakar, the company is classified as a Free Enterprise (EFE). Among the advantages that this EFE status provides are a reduction in corporate tax (15%), and exemption from duties and taxes on imports that are part of the company's operations. The condition set by the authorities to benefit from this status is to export at least 80% of the production in order to provide foreign exchange receipts to the country.
Mr Serrano, during the interview, insisted that Grupo PEREIRA “is the minority partner of the company.” The three trawlers of SOPERKA are part of the fleet of the Pereira company. The share capital of the Senegalese company SOPERKA, the majority partner, is 100 million CFA (equivalent to just over 150,000 euros).
The company operates three freezer trawlers, which in 2020 received exploratory fishing licenses for deep-water shrimp in Liberia under the Senegal-Liberia agreement.
“Our scientific fishing authorisations expire at the end of 2022”
In our article, we highlighted the fact that the Liberian Fisheries Law of 2019 provides for the case of “research fishing for scientific purposes”, subject to a series of conditions: submission of a detailed research plan to the authorities, but also “the embarkation of at least two Liberian scientists or observers for the entire duration of the research at the expense of the person to whom the authorisation is granted.”
Since the beginning of 2022, the 40-m long bottom-trawler Kanbal III, owned by Spanish Grupo Pereira and flagged to Senegal, has a licence as a “support vessel” in Liberia although it is fishing ‘carabineros’, deep-water shrimps. Photo: from the Soperka website.
The manager of SOPERKA explained that the company had submitted the requested research plans to the Liberian authorities, but confirmed that it was only taking an observer on board “because there was not enough space on board.” We concluded that this was illegal. Mr Kandji disagrees, explaining that he was not aware of this obligation. However, he said that if the Liberian authorities demanded that the law be respected, of course the company would comply.
Respect for the artisanal fishing zone in Liberia
One of the main concerns of the Liberian artisanal fishery in relation to deep sea shrimp exploitation is the fact that SOPERKA boats operate in Liberia in the fishing zone between four and six miles from the coast.
In the early 1980s, trawlers were allowed to operate in Liberia outside three nautical miles, but in 2010 the government declared a six-mile coastal exclusion zone accessible only to artisanal fishing and closed to trawlers. This has allowed better operations by the artisanal fleet. This zoning policy also explains lower catches of shrimp by trawlers. However, as noted in our article, section 4.3 of Liberia's fisheries code on the coastal exclusion zone allows “industrial shrimp, cephalopod and other vessels fishing for coastal species to trawl beyond 4 nautical miles,” thus opening a gap in the artisanal fishing zone.
Mr Kandji explains: “We don't need to come within the 6 miles, because we don't want conflict with the artisanal fishers in the area that is reserved for them.” And while it is true, as Global Fishing Watch's data indicates, that SOPERKA boats fished for over 7,000 hours in Liberian waters between October 2021 and July 2022, the SOPERKA manager says they only spent a few hours in the artisanal fishing zone. “Frankly, for us, this zone is not important, we could only fish outside the 6-mile zone, because, coming from Senegal, we know the importance of artisanal fishing,” he says.
It is estimated the Kanbal III, one of the trawlers of SOPERKA, fishes 35 kg of prawn per hour and Global Fishing Watch monitored 7000 fishing hours in Liberian waters since October 2021. Source: Screenshot from Global Fishing Watch.
And as for the catch rate, which we announced to be, on average, 35 kg of deep water shrimp per hour of fishing, “That's fanciful,” according to Mr Kandji, “Sometimes, we catch nothing in one day, sometimes, we catch a hundred kilos or more.”
One of our criticisms was also that in some of the areas where SOPERKA trawlers fish, in depths of 400 to 600 metres, there is a fragile environment of corals and sponges. Recently, scientist Ray Hillborn, confirmed that “some benthic species, such as soft corals and sponges, are very sensitive to bottom trawling because they stand well above the bottom and grow very slowly. A few passes of the trawl can eliminate them completely, and it can take decades for them to return.” As for the SOPERKA boats, “in any case, our fishermen have not noticed anything,” says the company manager.
“Industrial fishing activities should not encroach on the zone reserved for artisanal fishing and that coastal ecosystems, which are the guarantors of the resilience of coastal communities, should be properly protected.””
However, for several years, the Liberian authorities have been increasingly concerned about the protection of vulnerable deep-sea marine ecosystems. For example, in 2020, the Liberian Fisheries Authority, NaFAA, in a letter to the United Nations, declared the country's commitment to a precautionary approach, and also recognised the need to build its capacity to protect these vulnerable marine ecosystems “from the significant adverse effects of deep sea fishing.”
Mr Kandji points out that the scientific fishing authorisations for SOPERKA's vessels expire at the end of 2022: “After that date, Liberia will decide what to do about deep-water shrimp exploitation. If we are given the opportunity, we are ready to advise not to open the artisanal fishing zone to trawlers.”
Landing of catches
In our article, we also asked about the profits that Liberia was making from the exploitation of its deep water shrimp - the carabineros - which can retail for up to 80 euros per kilo for the largest sizes. Mr Kanji confirms that “all catches are currently landed in Dakar, due to the lack of infrastructure in Liberia.” The shrimp are landed as a Senegalese product: “the fish takes on the nationality of the boat that catches it,” he explains - for export to lucrative markets such as Spain and Japan. He insists that “the company pays the 10% of the value of the catch as required by the fishing permit.” It should also be noted that since the shrimp have been “senegalised” by being caught by Senegalese vessels, the 10% export tax is not due to Liberia.
Expectations of small-scale fisheries
Reacting to these explanations from the companies, Gaoussou Gueye, President of the African Confederation of Artisanal Fishing Organisations (CAOPA), whose members include the Liberia Artisanal Fishermen Association (LAFA), recalled that the priority is that “industrial fishing activities should not encroach on the zone reserved for artisanal fishing and that coastal ecosystems, which are the guarantors of the resilience of coastal communities, should be properly protected. It is also important that fisheries management is carried out in a transparent manner for the benefit of the people. We encourage the Liberian authorities to do this, for example by continuing to make public updated lists of vessels authorised to fish.”
Banner photo: Illustration photo, with no link to SOPERKA or Pereira, shows scientists and other personnel within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration agency on board of an exploratory vessel, from The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Photo Library.
A Senegalese civil society organisation, member of the OECD Watch network, supported fishers from Saint Louis in placing a complaint to the UK and US OECD National Contact Points against the multinational enterprises British Petroleum and Kosmos Energy.