In the Kenyan port of Mombasa the fishermen in his iron-roofed shelter indented in the coral cliff say they have been harvesting bumper catches lately, 200 kilogrammes (440 pounds) larger than their average hauls. And they are grateful to the pirates of Somalia, whose mere mention strikes horror in the hearts of just about any other seafarer in the region.
Aziz Suleiman, who co-owns the little wooden shack where he and his partners auction off the fish, said that the season is good because the pirates are blocking foreign fishing boats. Zedi Omar, a 19-year-old fisherman, admits that they no longer see the foreign fishing boats that we used to see before. They only spot cargo ships. He and his colleagues get to work in their improvised fish-sorting station, choked by the fetid smell of putrefying household refuse blending with the stench of shark liver fat wafting from nearby barrels.
Habib Hakem, who operates the Luna Water Sports in the north of Mombasa, said that the fish bounty has also buoyed tourism activity in the east African country’s resort city, with anglers and sport fishing boat operators riding a high tide. He added that for the last one year or so, we have had incidents where the catch is very high. He also said that before they (anglers) could go for four hours and come back empty-handed. It was just a game of chance.
It is fat that the Indian Ocean’s large maritime resources has for decades attracted industrial fishing fleets from Europe and Asia going on months-long campaigns to feed their demanding domestic markets. Spanish, French, Taiwanese and other mainly tuna-fishing trawlers based in the region have had to delay their campaigns to hire security and use new elaborate routes to dodge the ransom-hunting sea-bandits.
Kenya’s marine water fish production hovers between 7,000-8,000 tonnes per year and has stagnated in recent years. The extent to which the manna experienced by Kenyan fishermen should be credited to pirates hunting foreign trawlers and seiners is hard to scientifically quantify, but there could be one other simple reason.
