A western armada is not the way to sink Somalia's pirates

[muriel_volestrangler]

These fishermen-turned-hijackers are best tackled by local fleets - and by targeting poachers of the stock they used to catch

It has been quite a year for Somali pirates: 92 attacks have to date been attempted, with 36 successful hijackings and 268 crew members taken hostage. Given that the average ransom per vessel amounts to about $2m, it is hardly surprising that the port of Eyl, one of the major pirate lairs, has witnessed a veritable boom, with pirates feted by many as local heroes. Some observers estimate that Somali pirates reaped $30m in ransom during the first nine months of this year.

Another sum is less frequently mentioned: the estimated $300m of fish poached in Somali waters annually by trawlers hailing from nations as far away as Taiwan - or France and Spain, for that matter. Seen from this perspective, it is hardly surprising that some pirate groups see themselves as defenders of Somali fishermen, giving their groups names such as National Volunteer Coast Guard of Somalia, or Somali Marines.
...
So steeply has the situation in the Gulf of Aden and along the 2,000-mile coast of Somalia deteriorated that the EU has initiated a "close support protection system" for vessels transiting these perilous waters. The limitations of that system, and the scale of the challenge for anyone attempting to chase the pirates from the water, was made plain on Monday with the seizure of the Sirius Star outside the EU safe corridor. In any case, deploying western naval squadrons on a continuous basis might not be the best solution. Rather, regional navies or coastguards should be encouraged to pool their resources in order to conduct anti-piracy patrols, modelled on the Malacca Strait Patrol - which conducted by the navies of Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand, resulted in a noticeable decrease of piracy in this former hot spot. This was not lost on Egypt, which recently called upon the Red Sea states to inaugurate a similar combined effort in the Gulf of Aden. The east African coastal waters of Somalia should ideally be patrolled by the naval forces of Kenya, Tanzania and other interested littoral states. The role of western navies could be to lend technical assistance and expertise, as well as provide some secondhand patrol vessels if required. This will be costly, but cheaper than keeping up a substantial western naval presence for the foreseeable future, overstretching military resources further still.

However, it should be pointed out that conducting anti-piracy patrols in these waters can only ever be half of the solution. The other is to protect Somali waters against illegal fishing, thus giving local fishermen a fair chance to earn a living without turning to criminality. With all the focus on piracy and the "lure of easy money", it is all but forgotten that the majority of Somali fishermen do just that - try to earn a decent living against all odds, and now more and more often in the crossfire of pirates and navies. A deadly catch indeed.

• Dr Peter Lehr is a lecturer in terrorism studies at the University of St Andrews and editor of Violence at Sea: Piracy in the Age of Global Terrorism

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/nov/19/piracy-somalia

[Vinnie From Indy]

1. Bullshit!

"Another sum is less frequently mentioned: the estimated $300m of fish poached in Somali waters annually by trawlers hailing from nations as far away as Taiwan - or France and Spain, for that matter. Seen from this perspective, it is hardly surprising that some pirate groups see themselves as defenders of Somali fishermen, giving their groups names such as National Volunteer Coast Guard of Somalia, or Somali Marines."

This is the same type of excuse given by pirates for centuries and it has never been true. Also, if this was the case, why have the Somali pirates not been attacking foreign fishing vessels instead of oil tankers and container ships.

[amdezurik]

3. got something to back that up?

as far as "classic" pirates go that was never the excuse used. We are all waiting with baited breath(pun intended, sue me :P )for your data

[Vinnie From Indy]

5. Your post is a red herring!

The fact is that these guys are pirates and they are in it for the money. The point I was objecting to was the implication that these guys are somehow defending Somalia from foreign fishing vessels by hijacking oil tankers.

I will respond with "data" when the OP posts "data" about the 300 million in stolen fish from Somali waters.

[muriel_volestrangler]

7. "Illegal fishing off Somalia's coast has reached proportions of about $300-million annually"

Illegal fishing off Somalia's coast has reached proportions of about $300-million annually, a United Nations official said on Thursday in Nairobi.

"It is mostly foreign vessels but we don't know who they are," said Ghanim Alnajjar, the UN's independent expert on the situation of human rights in Somalia.

"Some Russians claim they have previous agreements and have paid licences, but no one can prove that", he added.

This has led to serious environmental concerns of the depletion in the fish-rich Somali waters.

The expert also said that despite the relocation back home of the Somali government from Kenya, the human rights situation in the conflict ridden country had not improved.

Alnajjar, who had just visited several parts of the country, said there were still massive security problems and he could not go to Mogadishu as planned.

"The situation remains catastrophic," he said.

The prospects of a planned election in Somaliland on September 29, however, were a positive sign, he said. The semi-autonomous northern region of Somaliland did not participate in the peace process. - Sapa-DPA

http://www.mg.co.za/article/2005-09-01-illegal-fishing-off-somalia-nets-300m-a-year

[Vinnie From Indy]

8. LOL!

A nameless UN official offering that 300 million in fish is being stolen from Somali waters is hardly a definitive "source".

[muriel_volestrangler]

9. 'Nameless'? He's Ghanim Alnajjar. It's in the 2nd fucking sentence

It's bad enough when DUers can't be bothered to follow a link they've been given before spouting bullshit, but when you can't even be fucked to read the second sentence of a post, we have to ask "what the hell are you doing bothering trying to argue here?" You're obviously uninterested in reality, just your own imagined world where you're right, and you think you know more than academics or the UN about international events.

If not the UN, who would be a 'definitive source' about international fishing practices? Don't pretend it's you, for a moment.

[acmavm]

10. Damn Vinny, don't you look stupid. This is a POOR NATION. These people

have no industry. All they had was fishing. Those that feel they are entitled took their livelihood away.

Do you think farmer's would be so adept at sailing that they would be able to commandeer foreign ships? NO? Must be some people who are at home on the waters, huh? Like maybe friggin' fishermen.

Privateering is all that's left to these guys.

[muriel_volestrangler]

4. They have been attacking fishing boats - but that doesn't make the headlines

From 2005:

Somali fishermen complained that their nets and other fishing equipment were repeatedly destroyed. There were reports of small boats being crushed by larger vessels and nets and their catches being taken by the foreign fishermen. "We have been lucky that foreigners have not landed on our beaches to take over our villages and mud huts," observed Ally Bakari, a fisherman in Brava district, 210 kilometres south of Mogadishu.

The local fishing community's resentment led to a quest for revenge. Eventually, some youth tried to chase away the foreign trawlers using speedboats and guns. The intruders promptly changed their tactics in the face of this challenge. They reportedly sought licenses to fish along the coast from local warlords who readily supplied them with "permits."
...
It is widely believed that the local youths' frustration was eventually turned from the foreign fishing vessels to commercial boats. Armed with speedboats and an array of weapons, the youth realised cargo ships were soft targets. Until eight months ago, the occasional capture of a ship was their only success story. Even then, they simply released it after securing some small payments as ransom. Lately, however, the youth's random requests have grown from a few thousand dollars to hundreds of thousands.
...
"The first foreign fishing boats, which discovered that Somali waters were not guarded, encouraged many others to venture into the illegal fishing," Mr Hayle said. "Attempts to stop the foreign trawlers produced armed gangs that are now more interested in hijacking defenceless commercial ships, which possibly give them better rewards in terms of ransom payment."

http://www.somaliuk.com/Indepth1/Fullarticle.php?IndepthID=378

[Uben]

2. Why don't they just send decoys?

Send out several ships loaded to the hilt with soldiers, weaponry, and fast speed boats to catch these pirates and kill them. Make it so it would be suicide to try to hijack one of these boats, and they would quit.

[IndianaGreen]

6. When the Islamic Courts were in power in Somalia, there were no pirates.

We overthrew the Islamic Courts last year, and now we got the pirate problem.