A successful conclusion to the overfishing documentary in Angola. By Sofonie Dala

Is it the end of the line for fisheries subsidies?

Good evening ladies and gentlemen,

“It is with gratitude that we celebrate the conclusion of our new campaign "Overfishing in coastal Africa" recorded in the Atlantic ocean.

Ladies and gentlemen, let's start our event with a song of hope. 

A moving tribute to our amazing gospel singer Filismina. She will fill our hearts and soul with a wonderful praise. 

Today, we are presenting a conclusion. If you would like to learn more, please click on these links to watch the non-fiction stories of these amateur fishermen and explore anything that catches your attention:

Day 1 - The story of Claudia - female fisherman

https://sofoniedala.blogspot.com/2021/07/promoting-womens-leadership-in.html

Day 2 - spotlight on young fishermen 

http://sofoniedala.blogspot.com/2021/07/spotlight-on-younf-fisherman-campaign.html

Day 3 - spotlight on amateur fishermen 

http://sofoniedala.blogspot.com/2021/07/spotlight-on-amateur-fishermen-campaign.html

Campaign report

It was a fantastic short edition of three stories only, but with a great social impact. Our campaign aims to report the issues that fisheries sectors in Angola are experiencing, driven by intense competition for marine resources.

As shown in the stories, we conducted a brief reportage with fishermen in the city of Luanda, Angola. We collected stories from people of different ages, adolescents, youth and adults. They reported that there is a lot of fish in the sea but they face financial problems and lack of fishing material that is very expensive.

Additionally, today fish in the informal market is very expensive because the fishermen who sell fish to the informal traders cannot fish in large quantities due to the lack of financial resources, lack of support from the government, fishing gear, and constant harassment from the police. Thus making life difficult for the most vulnerable people who depend on fishing to survive.

We also noticed a low level of women leading the fishing world, they usually play the role of fishmongers in the streets. Furthermore, amateur fishermen complain about the large amount of debris and cutting metals in the sea, which in turn makes their fishing  very difficult.

I personally have witnessed this, because I am from Angola originally, and it is devastating to see how much damage humans can do to such a unique ecosystem. Sadly, there is no indication that this distressing situation will be addressed soon.

Angola is a country with insufficient marine data, no environmental conservation awareness and lack of policies regarding conservation and fisheries. 

Studies from around the world indicate that sharks and rays utilize shallow-water habitats. Unfortunately, in Angola, these are zones which are heavily impacted by artisanal and semi-industrial fisheries. The low productivity of these species leads to them being highly susceptibility to fishing pressures, this means that the Angolan fishery is likely unsustainable.

The impact of fisheries subsidies on the continent

A webinar report about fisheries subsidies in coastal Africa informs that fisheries sectors in coastal Africa and across the world are experiencing an unprecedented crisis, driven by intense competition for marine resources. For decades, many governments have provided harmful subsidies to their fishing fleets to bolster their capabilities to increase catch, both domestically and in other countries’ waters, allowing them to drastically increase their capacity and profits.

Although these subsidies are often promoted as efforts to help small-scale fishers, they often end up subsidizing overfishing, increasing fishing fleet capacity, and contributing to the unregulated plundering of other countries’ fish stocks.