Terrifying Somali pirates

2010-02-08 12:31

Mombasa - Somalia's fearsome pirates don't have many friends among the Indian Ocean's seafaring community. But Kenya's fleet of modest Swahili fishermen think the region's most-wanted are a godsend.

The sight of two fishing boats emerging from the horizon and bobbing towards the shore stirs a real commotion in Aziz Suleiman's ramshackle observation spot 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 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.

"This is a good season," said Aziz Suleiman, who co-owns the little wooden shack where he and his partners auction off the fish. "It is also because the pirates are blocking foreign fishing boats."

As the first boat - a bare fibreglass shell with an on-board engine - anchors, a clutch of sinewy fishermen and excited boys wade through the water to hoist heavy bundles of fish back to the shore.

A game of chance

"We no longer see the foreign fishing boats that we used to see before. We only spot cargo ships," said Zedi Omar, a 19-year-old fisherman.

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.

The two boats brought a total of 600 kilogrammes of shark, sailfish, blue marlins and other smaller fish which were weighed and sold off immediately to local traders.

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.

"Of late, for the last one year or so, we have had incidents where the catch is very high," said Habib Hakem, who operates the Luna Water Sports in the north of Mombasa.

"Before they (anglers) could go for four hours and come back empty-handed. It was just a game of chance," he said, adding that the average catch per expedition is now six, up from one or two in the past.

Serious disruptions

"We have a lot of bookings now," he added. "We have interest from people who are not fishermen, tourists who just want to go and try sport fishing."

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.

But since 2007, Somali pirates - who initially claimed to protect their waters from foreign plundering - have caused serious disruptions.

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.

The less sophisticated fishing community in Kenya's main harbour likes to think they owe their fresh lease of prosperity to the pirates.

Not a day goes by without a booking, explained Hakem, saying that business has soared by some 80% and attributing the windfall to "fewer trawlers" in the nearby waters.

Marine and coastal fisheries

But Kenya Fisheries department officials said the boom may have no obvious link to pirates deterring foreign trawlers and seiners.

"There is no link between piracy and our artisanal fishermen," said Mwaka Said Barabara, the chief fisheries officer of Kenya's marine and coastal fisheries.

"We can link the piracy issue and (fish) production in the deep seas," she said. "But there are many causes of fluctuation of production levels."

Another official who did not want to be named said: "That relationship is not very strong because normally our local fishermen do not access the open waters. Fishing is also seasonal so it could also be related to the season."

Kenya's marine water fish production hovers between 7 000-8 000 tons per year and has stagnated in recent years, Barabara said.

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.

Lucrative piracy

Piracy has become one of the only flourishing industries in neighbouring war-ravaged Somalia and many local fishermen, using similar techniques to their fellow Kenyan seamen, have abandoned their trade for high-seas robbery.

"I used to get less than $200 per month from fishing, but now that poverty is gone," said a Somali-based pirate who gave his name only as Gurey.

"You never know when this business is going to be over but what I tell you is that going to the ocean for piracy is better than going out for fishing," he said.

A local elder in Somalia's northern fishing village of Garad said droves of youths have given up the lowly fisherman's life to the more lucrative piracy.

"We had so many fishermen around the coastal areas in 2005 and 2006, but now you cannot see young men wanting to fish," said Abdulahi Farey. "This phenomenon is really discouraging fishing here in the Somali area."

- AFP