Somalia’s former pirates threaten to attack illegal fishing trawlers

Saturday, April 9, 2016
Some pirates have turned to fishing and are finding themselves up against a new enemy.

Somali pirates carrying out preparations to a skiff in Hobyo, northeastern Somalia, ahead of new attacks on ships sailing in the Gulf of Aden in 2010. Somalia’s former pirates are threatening to attack illegal fishing trawlers. PHOTO | AFP

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Pirates who once ruled the seas off Somalia are little more than a memory but while they are forgotten, they are not gone.

The trial in Paris of seven men accused of killing a French sailor and kidnapping his wife in 2011 is a reminder of the terror. However, experts and former pirates alike say the scourge may return.

“There hasn’t been a serious attack on a commercial vessel in over two years,” said John Steed, Horn of Africa manager for the US-based non-profit Oceans Beyond Piracy. “But the guys haven’t gone and nothing’s changed on the ground.”

Anti-piracy patrols by international warships and armed guards aboard commercial vessels, which continue to chug fast and far past the Somali coast, have suppressed piracy, not stopped it.

The last wave began in 2005 and reached its peak six years later when Somali pirate gangs attacked 237 vessels and, at year’s end, held 11 ships and 216 hostages, earning on average more than $2 million for every ship ransomed. Back then, the total economic cost of Somali piracy was estimated at $6.9 billion.

Much of that cost was down to counter-piracy actions, including the deployment of warships, extra fuel burned by vessels racing through the pirate ranges and the hiring of private armed security teams aboard ships. These costly measures worked and Somali piracy dropped off dramatically so that by 2013, no commercial vessels were successfully boarded.

Now some pirates have turned to a new activity, fishing, and are finding themselves up against a new enemy: Foreign trawlers.

ILLEGAL FISHING

The anti-piracy navies have no mandate to stop illegal fishing and private guards have no interest in it, while Somalia, making an unsteady recovery from war, lacks a coastguard and a navy.

“There’s now no risk to illegal trawlers which can fish at will,” said Steed.

Pirates turned fishermen grumble about the trawlers and have threatened to take up arms.

“We are fishermen but where is the fish?” asked Abdulahi Abas, a former pirate in the coastal town of Garacad.

“I joined the pirates because of those illegal fishing vessels and now we have left the piracy business, we cannot fish in our waters.”
Some trawlers have been attacked. Last year, Iranian fishing boat Siraj was hijacked while its partner vessel, Jaber, escaped after a gunfight with pirates.

On any given day, scores of foreign trawlers illegally pull fish out of Somalia’s territorial waters.

French couple Christian and Evelyne Colombo were attacked in September 2011. Seven Somalis on trial in Paris for Christian’s killing and Evelyne’s abduction deny attacking the couple’s yacht. Evelyne was rescued 48-hours later by Spanish commandos who killed two of the suspected pirates and arrested the seven.

Among the worst illegal fishing offenders are Iranian, Spanish and Taiwanese vessels.

“Illegal fishing is giving pirates the excuse they had in the beginning,” said Steed, “It is just an excuse. These are criminals, whether they are kidnapping at sea or on land.”

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