How industrial fishing sinks communities | Lamin Jassey

0:06You're listening to TED Talks Daily, where we bring you new ideas to spark your curiosity every day. I'm your host, Elise Hu. The inhabitants of Gungur, a large fishing village in Gambia in West Africa, thought the arrival of a new fish mill would bring huge improvements to their lives. More jobs, more opportunities, more support for fishermen. Instead, inside of a year, they started to notice there were fewer fish and more polluted waters. In this talk, environmental activist Laman Jasi shares the story of his troubling investigation into what happened in this village and what's at stake for the future of Gambia and beyond if the fish don't return.

0:53Let me tell you a story about stone and fish. My name is Lamine Jasi. I am a trained teacher, community leader, coastal and marine environment activist. I am a native of Gunju, the biggest fishing village in Gambia, West Africa. There are an estimated 25 ,000 inhabitants. Most of the people here are connected to fishing in some way. In 2016, a fish mill factory started operations at Gunjur Fish Landing Site. We thought it would bring improvements to our life. After just one year, we began to realize a dramatic change in our fish supply. There were fewer and fewer fish. As an environmental activist, I started to investigate.

1:47It quickly became clear that because of these fish mill factories, we are experiencing an unusual shortage of fish. I also came to understand that this mill factory was accepted by our village leadership because of the host of verbal economic promises they made, such as providing 600 good jobs. Constructing main road that links the village to this landing site. And building this market for the community. All of these promises are not fulfilled up to this very day. And this clearly tells us that this fish mill factory is not to be trusted, and most of their information is false. I also came to know that the main raw material for this factory are fresh small pelagic fish.

2:47Most people in Gambia depend on the same small pelagic fish as their main protein intake and source of livelihood. This is the cheapest fish that every family can afford daily and is the foundation of our local economy. The factory finances the majority of fishermen and their coaches go straight to the factory. So women have only leftover fish to process and sell. Women started struggling and even losing their livelihood and jobs in fish processing. Young people also started to lose hope because most of the youth depend on tourism. The unbearable smell from the factory killed tourism in the area.

3:43Most of the youth got onto the street. crime rate accelerated, poverty creeps one's thriving community, and drug and substance abuse is increasing. Youths search for new opportunities. Hundreds, if not thousands of youths reach in the Atlantic Ocean trying to reach Europe. And there are thousands of youth whose whereabouts are still unknown and their families are still mourning for their loved ones. In 2018, we came to realize that the fish meal factory at Gunjur Fish Landing site is disposing of their industrial waste into the ozone at the very area where boats are landing. This time around, I engaged the management of factory.

4:39I gave them an ultimatum of one week to remove their waste pipes, or we will organize people to remove it for them. When they failed to remove their waste pipe after one week, we went on as promised to remove the waste pipe with hundreds of people. After one week, five other people and myself were arrested and detained at the police station. We had to go to court for six months, but in the end, we were all accuted and discharged. After this round trial, I continued to educate additional fishermen, women processors, young people about the impact of fish meal factories. And I also have been engaging government officials to revisit the decision of the government and protect the presence and future of this country.

5:40However, the government recently decided to sign a six-year fishing agreement with the European Union, which allowed bigger fishing vessels from the EU and China to fish in our waters. As a result, fish become more scarce and expensive. People's way of eating has to change direction to an imported chicken from Europe, which has become cheaper than local fish. This has led to health problems. And with Gambia's fragile healthcare system, Our source of animal protein intake being compromised by fishing vessels and fish meal factories. The situation becomes worse and unbearable. In recent years, most of the fishermen in the region began to catch juvenile fish that were not fit for human consumption.

6:45But it all went straight into the factory. as I ask the fishery staff responsible for enforcement of fisheries regulations, which prohibit catching juvenile fish but to no avail. Instead of feeding us locally, all those fish are torn into fish meal. Then that fish meal goes out of the country, mostly to China, Europe and South America. to salmon farms and other aquaculture farms. The good news is that our organization is working with few international organizations to build the capacity of women processors, artisanal fishermen, to understand what is at stake and collect data at Gunju, Khatong and Sanyam fish landing sites to inform decision makers and save the future of this country.

7:47It is my hope to bring fish back to these waters, and not just for the Gambia. The fish belongs to the whole region. We need to bring the Gambia, Senegal and Mauritania and others together to fight and protect our water and our fish. I can't do it alone. We can't do it alone. Thank you very much.

8:41Little, Alejandra Salazar, and Tonsika Sarmanivon. It was mixed by Christopher Faze-Bogan. Additional support from Emma Taubner and Daniela Ballarezzo. I'm Elise Hugh. I'll be back tomorrow with a fresh idea for your feed. Thanks for listening.