Five years ago, the isolated outpost of Eyl was Somalias most notorious pirate lair. Perched above the crashing waves of the Indian Ocean, the ramshackle town played host to wheeling and dealing pirate kingpins who would roar through the rutted streets in tinted 4x4s as captured ships languished in the shallow waters. [...] Pirate-hunting western warships belatedly dispatched to the region as part of Nato, US and European Union forces to pacify the pirates and end the hijacking and hostage-taking of western ships and their crews, seem to have won the battle.
[...] Unfortunately for the local population, as the pirates have departed, other aggressors have returned. While the world has shifted its attention elsewhere, marauding flotillas from countries such as Yemen, Iran and South Korea in flagrant breach of international maritime law have begun to plunder Somalias rich fishing grounds, plunging the local fishermen who hold up the towns economy into financial ruin.
Overfishing, which devastated the livelihoods of coastal communities a decade ago, is regarded as the principal reason for the initial outbreak of piracy. The waters off Somalias 1,880-mile coastline are among the richest fishing grounds in the world, teeming with shark, tuna, sardines, snapper and lobster. The illegal fishermen, their rusty tubs flying flags of convenience and protected by armed Somali brigands from further up the coast, chase off local fishermen who come too close ramming their boats, shooting at them or sabotaging their gear. Its a deadly fight that has raged largely unseen and unreported.
[...] Nato came because of the piracy, but the cause of piracy is the illegal fishing, says Wais, the Eyl official. If Nato can chase away the pirates, then why not the illegal fishermen?
It is a view echoed by Abdullahi Jama Saleh, Puntlands counter-piracy minister, who accuses the west of having a mandate to catch the little thief, but not the big one.
For Mahamoud, it is just a small step back to the life he used to lead, sourcing resources and weapons for the pirates. Both the Nato and EU mandates expire at the end of 2016, and western officials say member states are applying pressure to redeploy the warships to the Mediterranean and elsewhere. If Nato goes, we will attack them, says Mahamoud, eyes blazing as he rails against the western warships seen to be protecting the illegal fishermen. We will kill and be killed.
Somalias modern-day piracy began when impoverished fishermen extorted money from unlicensed foreign fishing vessels. It evolved into a multimillion dollar criminal enterprise that at its height saw a $9.5m ransom paid for the release of the South Korean tanker, Samho Dream. In early 2011, pirates were holding more than 700 captives.
[...] Now, says Faisal Wais, a frustrated Eyl official, nothing has changed. We are back to square one, he says. The illegal fishermen are back, and
I am afraid that piracy may come back.
Illegal fishing is gouging from the nascent Somali economy a source of revenue that could help build much-needed infrastructure, provide healthcare and education to those who go without, and restore arid lands to grazing pastures, says Degan Ali, executive director of Adeso, an African NGO working with coastal communities in Somalia.
[...] The pirates still attract broad sympathy in Somalia. Those caught were tried in foreign lands and later repatriated to Somalia to serve terms ranging from two to 24 years. But most of those incarcerated in Puntlands prisons in Bosaso and Garowe are the foot soldiers. The pirate kingpins are still at large, easily able to elude the weak authorities that are believed to have benefited from the trade.
In March, pirates seized two Iranian dhows off central Somalia one later escaped and a UN report last month named notorious pirate Mohamed Osman Mohamed Gafanje as the mastermind behind the attack.
The thing people forget is that the pirates havent gone away, they are still holding 50 hostages, most of those victims from illegal fishing boats, says John Steed from Ocean Beyond Piracy. They could easily go back to taking vessels again.
[...] Saleh, the counter-piracy minister, says Somalis know that the penalties would be severe if caught. They will be more lethal this time, he says. They know there is no mercy for them. Before they were after money, now its a matter of survival. Its do or die.
