Overfishing, social problems, and ecosocial sustainability in Senegalese fishing communities

Abstract

This study explores living conditions of people in Senegalese fishing communities in relation to environmental change and unregulated fishing by foreign boats, weakening local opportunities and increasing forced migration of youth, creating problems for the future development of local fishery communities. It employs a postcolonial perspective and analyzes data collected through interviews with individuals from Senegalese fishing communities, social workers and relevant documents. The results show local reactions based on alliances between social workers and local community members to overfishing and the need for national and global structural changes. It is argued that EU's fishing agreements with Senegalese government is one of the reasons behind youths' forced migration to EU countries and that the betterment of the living conditions of fishery communities in Senegal requires not only already emerging alliances between social workers and local community members, but also national and global structural changes to protect Africa's fishing communities and local fisheries.

Sustainable Networks: Modes of governance in the EU’s external fisheries policy relations under the IUU Regulation in Thailand and the SFPA with Senegal

“…Through the agreement protocol's gap years (2006)(2007)(2008)(2009)(2010)(2011)(2012)(2013)(2014) and the subsequent negotiation leading up to the new SFPA, Senegal participated along with the EU in constructing language and declaring intent for more equal partnership relations. At the same time, postcolonial criticisms remind us that language of partnership may still fail to reflect a more complicated reality in which historical difference continue to impact each partner's negotiating power [34].…”

“…While this analysis suggests that SFPAs have a positive effect on developing countries' exports, it also hints that the agreements could cultivate market dependence in the host countries. Earlier criticisms that the EU's presence undermines traditional employment and even erodes local economic development [4,31] also continue to be raised for the latest iteration of the agreements [34].…”

“…From a postcolonial perspective, the SFPA has also been seen to reinforce a long-term pattern of colonial and later neoliberal development undermining the local societal fabric and traditional types of fishing labour [34]. The EU has sought to correct this perspective through increasing its development contributions to improve the local fishing sector, but reports on the success of these measures to strengthen local capacity and mitigate historic power asymmetries have been mixed: for example, interviewed in 2010 and 2015, and thus potentially reflecting early experiences from the newest SFPA protocol, interlocutors in Jönsson's research claimed that fishing by EU vessels displaces local fishing labour, particularly younger fishermen, and reinforces patterns of outward migration (2019).…”

Forced Migration, Older Refugees and Displacement: Implications for Social Work as a Human Rights Profession

“…This undoubtedly has relevance for this article with its focus on older displaced refugees, who often are forced to leave their countries and areas because of war and violence with roots in colonial nationbuildings. There are also studies that focus on the role of social work institutions, social workers and community activists during war, military occupations, environmental disasters, forced migration and political and economic restructuring on social work (Campbell et al 2018;Ferguson et al 2018;Harrop and Ioakimidis 2018;Jönsson 2016Jönsson , 2019Lavalette and Ioakimidis 2011;Worland 2019). The common arguments in the mentioned literature is that social work as a critical and global profession must be guided by principles of human rights and social justice in order to improve the life conditions of people in need of social work interventions and counteract institutional and structural mechanisms that reproduce global inequalities and injustices.…”

Revolutionary social work: promoting sustainable justice

“…The development agenda follows the idea that 'there is no alternative' beyond the neoliberal world order -as is discussed by contributors in this issue, such as Calbucura and Almonacid, Madew and Leung, and Powers, Rambare and Peeters (see also Kamali, 2015;Jönsson, 2019b). Such understanding and reforms are not only limited to the economic spheres, but also included in all aspects of late-modern social, political and cultural life around the world.…”