Reclaiming Senegal’s Waters: Fisheries and the Struggle for Coastal Control

(Photo by United States Navy MC1 Daniel Mennuto via Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain)

Listen to Article Summary:

---

Stretching over 700 kilometres along the Atlantic Ocean, Senegal’s coastline has long been central to the national economy, coastal communities’ livelihoods and the country’s diet. Yet, fish have become increasingly scarce and expensive for many Senegalese households. For instance, the price of yaboy, one of the most consumed fish species in the country, has increased 13-fold in the last twenty years. Fish scarcity in Senegal is not only an environmental issue, but also a question of who accesses and benefits from the country’s marine resources. 

Several factors have pressured fish stocks, including climate change, overfishing, illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, and growing competition from foreign industrial fleets. Over the past twenty years, Senegal has tripled its exports of small fish, while increasingly diverting these fish towards fishmeal and fish-oil production, leaving less fish available for local consumption. 

The decline in catches and the rise of prices challenge Senegal’s food security, in a country where seafood remains an essential source of protein. Beyond nutrition, fish scarcity has contributed to unemployment in coastal communities, pushing people to seek livelihoods elsewhere, including along dangerous migration routes to Europe.   

In June 2026, the Senegalese government announced the expansion of the exclusion zone for industrial fishing. This measure aims to regain sovereignty over coastline resources to protect artisanal fisheries and reinforce national food security. The reform also reflects the long-lasting advocacy from fishing communities and civil society for a more equitable management of Senegal’s waters. However, it raises a broader question: can stronger national control over marine resources reverse decades of ecological degradation, competing international interests and economic pressure? 

Why Fish Matter

Fisheries are a fundamental pillar of food security, employment and social cohesion in Senegalese society. Fish and seafood provide more than 40% of the population’s animal protein intake. This proportion makes the country one of the most fish-dependent nations in sub-Saharan Africa and underlines how daily nutrition depends on healthy marine ecosystems. 

The fishing industry is estimated to support more than 600,000 jobs, amounting to 15% of the national workforce. Those jobs are primarily located in coastal regions where alternative employment opportunities remain limited. Entire local economies depend on small-scale fishing, with income circulating through processors, transporters, market sellers, etc. 

Women play a significant role in this chain, dominating the post-fishing sector with smoking, drying, and selling fish to supply the domestic market. This work can provide women with an important source of income and economic autonomy. Yet, these benefits coexist with significant inequalities: women disproportionately remain in low-paid and precarious activities, sometimes carried out in hazardous working environments. As fish catches decline, this dependence on the fisheries value chain leaves women more vulnerable to income loss and economic insecurity. 

From Fishing to Global Markets

Senegal’s artisanal fish stocks have faced increasing competition from industrial fleets, including vessels flying the Senegalese flag but controlled by foreign companies. The Environmental Justice Foundation found that foreign countries controlled at least 52% of the Senegalese-flagged bottom trawler vessels, with Spanish and Chinese entities accounting for about 45% of the fleet. The distinction between flag and ownership is significant because it blurs the extent of foreign involvement in Senegal’s fisheries, and thus the assessment of who benefits from access to the resources. 

Artisanal fishing communities have repeatedly challenged the expansion of industrial fishing, arguing that large trawlers compete for the same resources. In 2020, fishers, women fish processors and civil society groups organised nationwide demonstrations against the licensing of 52 new foreign industrial vessels. Following the mobilization, Senegal’s Minister of Fisheries rejected all 52 licensing requests in June 2020. However, the decision did not lead to a broader reform of the licensing system. 

The European Union (EU) has been an important foreign player in the sector as it has regularly signed agreements with the country for decades. In exchange for access to Senegalese waters, the EU provides financial compensation and support in fisheries management. NGOs have criticized these agreements, arguing it prioritized exportations over domestic food security and increased pressure on fish stocks. Yet, the latest deal expired in 2024, and Senegal and the EU did not renew it, as the European Commission identified Senegal as a “non-cooperating country in the fight against IUU fishing”. In line with its zero-tolerance policy on IUU fishing, the EU stated it could not proceed with the agreement “until there is sufficient progress by Senegal in this area.”

At the same time, IUU fishing remains one of the industry’s most persistent challenges. Beyond foreign vessels operating illegally in Senegalese waters, the EU raised concerns about Senegal’s ability to monitor its own fleet fishing in international waters and overfishing practices compared to the quota allocated by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas. 

Senegal’s fisheries crisis cannot be reduced to the actions of any single foreign player. Yet, it reflects the intersection of international agreements, global demand, governance gaps and unequal bargaining power. 

Rising Seas and Declining Catches

Climate change is reshaping the marine ecosystem, which Senegalese fishers depend on, and worsening the aforementioned governance challenges. Rising sea temperatures are pushing fish species to migrate northward, disrupting typical fishing grounds. Physical oceanographer Hervé Demarcq has reported “a significant increase in the sea surface temperature” in the Senegal-Mauritanian zone, “ranging from 0.1 to 0.3°C per decade.”

Thus, between 1995 and 2015, the round sardinella have migrated 180 kilometres to the north to find their previous conditions. For artisanal fishers operating with limited equipment and small wooden pirogues, following these migration patterns can be difficult for logistical and economic reasons. 

Rising water temperatures also alter ocean currents and salinity levels, affecting habitat conditions for bonga, one of Senegal’s most widely consumed small fish. As bonga populations decline, there are fewer available stock to smoke, dry and salt. This fish scarcity affects food availability and the livelihoods of the women whose incomes disproportionately depend on this part of the fish value chain. 

At the same time, travelling farther to catch fish may expose fishers to navigating more challenging or new currents, shifted by climate change. Changing currents have actually claim fishers’ lives at the mouth of the Senegal River every year.

Besides, coastal erosion, exacerbated by climate change, has become a dramatic reality in the fishing communities. In northern Senegal, the widening breach in the Langue de Barbarie peninsula has destroyed homes, fish processing sites and fish landing areas. Further south, rising sea levels threaten the survival of several low-lying islands. 

A New Path for Senegal’s Fisheries?

On June 17, 2026, the Senegalese Minister of Fisheries and Maritime Economy announced that the country is working towards extending the Industrial Inshore Exclusion Zone (IEZ) from 6 to 12 nautical miles. This measure would reserve Senegal’s territorial waters, as defined by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, allowing only artisanal fisheries in this coastal zone. 

The proposed expansion answers longstanding demands from small-scale fishing organizations for preferential access to coastal fishing grounds and co-management arrangements that give fishing communities access to a role in fisheries governance. Civil society organizations have argued that the IEZ can protect coastal ecosystems, reduce destructive practices and strengthen livelihoods of small-scale fishing communities. 

Yet the effectiveness of an expanded IEZ will depend on its implementation. Across West Africa, small-scale fishers continue to report industrial incursions into their reserved areas and weak enforcement. In Senegal, these concerns are linked to questions over transparency of joint ventures under the Senegalese flag. 

Senegal’s proposal is part of a broader West African debate over how coastal space should be allocated between industrial and small-scale fisheries. Countries like Ivory Coast and Guinea-Bissau have also introduced exclusion zones or restrictions on industrial fishing in their waters, reflecting growing recognition of the importance of protecting coastal ecosystems and small-scale fishing livelihoods.  

Reclaiming the Coast 

The Senegalese fisheries crisis is the result of several pressures on a fundamental resource to the country’s food security and coastal economy. Declining fish stocks cannot be attributed to a single player or cause. Industrial fishing, foreign investment and global demand have increased pressure on marine resources. At the same time, weaknesses in monitoring and blurry ownership structures have complicated fisheries management. Climate change further modifies the distribution of fish stocks and puts fishing communities at risk. 

In this context, Senegal’s June 2026 commitment to extend the industrial exclusion zone from six to twelve nautical miles shows a potentially significant change in policy direction. The move responds to longstanding demands from fishing communities to focus on food security, local livelihoods and marine resources, while addressing part of the weaknesses that contributed to the IUU designation by the EU. 

Yet, drawing a new boundary at sea will not restore Senegal fisheries. The success of the reform will depend on the capacity of the government to enforce the exclusion zone and give fishing communities a meaningful role in managing the resources on which they depend. The June 2026 announcement may mark the beginning of a shift to build the long-term resilience of ecosystems and national food security. Senegal’s fishing communities will ultimately determine the reform’s success through their ability to make a living from a healthy and accessible ocean.

Edited by Gabrielle Andrychuk