Gambian Fishers Fight to Reclaim Their Protected Waters

When Keba Jabang and hundreds of fishermen, traders, and activists gathered along The Gambia's coast on April 12, they weren't asking for a new law. They were demanding enforcement of one that already exists.

The law is clear: industrial trawlers must stay beyond nine nautical miles from shore, leaving that zone exclusively for small-scale fishers. But locals say foreign-owned vessels routinely ignore the rule, sometimes fishing just five miles from shore, scooping up juvenile fish before they can mature and cutting through the nets of artisanal fishermen.

Jabang, who leads the Sanyang Youth for Environmental Protection and Development, organized the gathering alongside groups including the Gunjur Conservation and Ecotourism Association and Blue Ventures. Their goal was simple: find a way to make the protected zone actually protected.

The stakes couldn't be higher. In The Gambia, where meat is expensive, roughly 80% of people rely on fish as their primary protein source. The artisanal fishing sector supports about 200,000 people directly and indirectly.

Fishermen report their daily catches have plummeted by more than 80% compared to past decades. Women who process and sell fish say they feel the squeeze just as sharply.

"If industrial fishing trawlers stop going to that area, we will have a lot of fish because that area is a reserve area where young ones are found," said Fatou Piere Choi, president of the National Association of Artisanal Fishing Operators. When young fish reach maturity in protected waters, everyone benefits.

After years of petitions to the Ministry of Fisheries with little result, the coalition is trying a new approach. They're taking their case directly to the National Assembly Select Committee on Environment, hoping public debate will finally force action.

The Ripple Effect

This grassroots movement in The Gambia reflects a larger shift happening across West Africa's coast. Small-scale fishers are organizing, documenting violations, and demanding accountability from their governments.

The protected nine-mile zones serve as nurseries where fish populations can recover. When those areas are respected, the benefits extend far beyond individual fishermen to entire communities that depend on affordable protein.

Marine experts point out that illegal fishing costs West Africa an estimated $3.2 billion annually. But when local communities successfully defend their waters, they're not just protecting livelihoods, they're safeguarding regional food security.

The coalition's decision to escalate to the National Assembly represents a turning point from quiet frustration to organized civic action. By making enforcement a matter of national debate rather than ministry correspondence, they're betting transparency will succeed where private appeals have failed.

As Jabang put it plainly: "When fish is expensive, there will be starvation in the country, and that is something we wouldn't allow." That determination, shared by thousands along the coast, could be what finally turns written law into lived reality.