The world’s biggest trawler and fish factory vessel have been operating in Western Sahara’s waters.
The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists revealed in an article 25 January a shocking story of monster vessels sucking the oceans dry of small pelagic fish species.
The eight country investigation showed how the world’s largest fish factory vessel, The Lafayette, has zigzagged the seas of the Pacific and the Atlantic during the last years. The vessel is the size of two football fields, and holds a storage capacity of 14,000 tonnes of fish. The Lafayette is accompanied of a fleet of trawlers that deliver their catches to the vessel at sea.
Western Sahara Resource Watch has got access to the detailed route that the monster vessel took last year. The map shows how The Lafayette in November 2011 during a period of fishing offshore Mauritania, also most probably entered the Saharawi waters.
Vessel tracking graphics by Trygg Mat Foundation, Norway, www.tryggmat.no. Click on graphic for higer resolution. The exact boundary of the EEZ of Mauritania and Western Sahara is not settled, however, with the application of modern maritime boundary law, the Western Sahara EEZ would most probably extend directly southwards from Cape Blanc for a number of seamiles, before turning to a direct westwards direction. Morocco has never laid claim to the waters of Western Sahara, which it illegally occupies. This is done, however, by the Western Sahara republic.
The Lafayette was last seen on the Canary Islands, and is currently heading towards Montevideo, Uruguay.
A few years back, Western Sahara was the scene for fisheries from the world’s biggest trawler. The Irish owned vessel Annelies Ilena (ex-Atlantic Dawn) then caught fish offshore the occupied territory from September to November 2009. She has not been to Western Sahara since. Annelies Ilena can catch 350 tonnes daily, and with a carry capacity of 7,000 tonnes.
A recent evaluation done for the European Commission showed that the small pelagic species offshore Western Sahara is threatened with depletion. The reason is exactly overfishing from industrial foreign vessels. The Saharawi people have not consented in regards to this industry, which thus is in violation of international law. Read a UN opinion from 2002 on matters of natural resources exploitation in Western Sahara here.
Annelies Ilena, September 2009
Annelies Ilena, October 2009
Anlies Ilena, November 2009
Occupied Western Sahara wind complex expands into Africa's top three
The Moroccan king’s energy company appears to have completed two new phases of the Aftissat wind power complex in occupied Western Sahara.
Dirty green energy on occupied land
How can it be wrong to develop renewable energy, in a world that is in desperate need for a green transition? In Western Sahara, the problems are numerous.
Trump administration bankrolls ammonia project in occupied Western Sahara
The Trump administration has become the first US government to finance a private-sector project in occupied Western Sahara, awarding support to the controversial ORNX green ammonia venture.
Engie paves way for new farmland in occupied Western Sahara
Morocco has launched another tender to allocate more than 1,000 hectares of agricultural land in occupied Western Sahara, made cultivable through the French company Engie. The expansion comes as the EU considers increasing the unlawful trade with the territory.