For generations, people in West Africa have subsisted on fishing and the sea beyond has been one of the richest in fish in the world. But since the 1980s, the sea has been depleted by industrial fishing – first by Europeans, then China, Russia and Turkey.
The development affects not only local fishermen but also thousands of women in Senegal who smoke and dry fish to resell on the local market. A large part of all catches these days goes to factories that produce fishmeal that is used as animal feed. A product that is exported to Europe and Asia.
– I would say that it is the real factor that leads to the collapse of the fishery, says Béatrice Gorez.
Decreasing the earth’s food resource
Anders Kiessling, researcher and professor of aquaculture at the Swedish University of Agriculture, SLU, is also of the opinion that fishmeal factories are not a sustainable business.
– Not in any way. If the flour is not made from leftovers, it is a feed that reduces the earth’s food resources, says Anders Kiessling.
He is researching to develop alternatives. Pilot projects exist, including where protein from insects is used as feed in salmon farms. A circular system where the insects ate waste from the food industry.
– We must work more regionally. Everything is a cycle and we have to adapt to that, says Anders Kiessling.
See Document from outside: Predatory fishing in the Atlantic on SVT Play or on 1/10 at 10 pm on SVT2.