ADF

ADF STAFF Authorities in Gabon arrested two fishing trawlers carrying 5 metric tons of rough-head sea catfish and more than a metric ton of rays. Catching the catfish species and removing the fins of rays, sharks and skates is banned in Gabonese waters. Sea Shepherd Global, which helps several West African governments rid their waters of illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, helped make the daytime arrests during routine inspections. IUU fishing leads to overfishing, destroys local ecosystems, and deprives locals of food and income. Authorities inspected the trawlers several times previously, and its Chinese captain claimed he didn’t know…

ADF STAFF Ghana didn’t just celebrate National Cybersecurity Awareness Month in October; it took action. The National Information Technology Agency (NITA) opened a Security Operations Centre (SOC) to fight cyber crime and increase protection for government ministries, businesses and the public. “As we continue to digitize, we need to take our cyber security seriously,” Minister of Communications Ursula Owusu-Ekuful said at the launch on October 23. The SOC will offer network monitoring to help the government spot threats as soon as they occur. “With advanced analytical and correlation technology to recognize threats, the SOC will aid in the identification of…

ADF STAFF The captain of a Senegalese fishing canoe suffered serious burns recently after he confronted the crew of a Chinese trawler sailing aggressively in the Gulf of Guinea. Maguette Mbaye, 36, told Gambian authorities he was at the helm of an 11-person boat off The Gambia’s coast when a large Chinese trawler tried to capsize the canoe on Sept. 19. Mbaye said he was attacked when he boarded the Chinese vessel “to question them about the dangerous maneuvers carried out against my canoe,” according to Gambian government spokesperson Ebrima G. Sankareh. “Before I could finish speaking, a shower of…

ADF STAFF Daniel exhaled a sigh of relief when he received his welcome kit after arriving at the six-day Hoops4Kids (H4K) fall basketball camp in Niamey, Niger, on October 5. It included a backpack, T-shirt, jersey, reusable water bottle, towel, and most important, shoes. “To be honest, I was worried about having to play in flip-flops,” he said to the United Nations’ International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Niger, which supports the camp. “I now look and feel like a professional player. I even have a jersey with my name on it!” In previous H4K camps, many children could not participate…

ADF STAFF Members of the Ansar al-Sunna terror group recently raided Mocimboa da Praia, a major port in Mozambique’s embattled Cabo Delgado province. Once known for attacking small villages with machetes, the terror group successfully fought off mercenaries, sank a Mozambican military vessel and seized a cache of weapons in August. The port is used for deliveries to nearby natural gas projects worth about $60 billion. Ansar al-Sunna’s short-term occupation of Mocimboa da Praia and numerous islands off the coast helps the group control maritime infrastructure for operational support and access illicit trade routes for funding, according to an October…

ADF STAFF Nigerien Prime Minister Brigi Rafini toured submerged farmlands and neighborhoods with collapsed mud homes in late August after the Niger River overflowed and swamped the capital, Niamey. He was furious to see so many dikes breached after workers had rehabilitated them before the rainy season. “I thought that the capital of Niamey was safe from flooding,” he told local media. After torrential rains led to historic flooding since July, Rafini called on the international community to help in a September meeting with foreign diplomats and international nongovernmental organizations. The United States is answering. After meeting Nigerien President Mahamadou…

ADF STAFF The Methane Princess, a liquified natural gas tanker ship, was docked off Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, on October 17 when pirates attacked. They ignored the cargo and took something more valuable: two crew members. Although piracy has declined globally, it is rising in the Gulf of Guinea. Attacks have grown 40% since the beginning of this year. Unlike the Gulf of Aden, where decades of piracy have forced crews to defend against attacks, ships in the Gulf of Guinea are more lightly armed and less prepared for pirate assaults, Onyekachi Adekoya, managing director of PR24 Security in Nigeria, told…

ADF STAFF From Mauritania to Benin, trawlers’ illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing tactics are drawing scrutiny. Vessels in West African waters sail under flags of convenience and use deception to haul in huge catches that decimate local ecosystems. Chinese vessels are among the worst offenders and recently caused controversy in Senegal. There, a Chinese fishing fleet previously caught illegally fishing in Djibouti, was granted fishing licenses amid lockdown measures to contain COVID-19. Senegal’s Fishing Ministry publicly rejected the applications of 52 trawlers, but pressafrik.com, an online newspaper based in Dakar, reported that the government issued licenses to three fishing…

ADF STAFF Morocco and the U.S. have signed a 10-year deal that will support the nations’ shared military goals. The accord “serves as a road map for defense cooperation and aims to strengthen the strategic partnership between the two countries and support shared security goals,” a statement from the Moroccan Royal Armed Forces said. The deal also aims to improve Morocco’s military readiness as the kingdom combats terrorism, manages a migration crisis, and promotes stability in the Sahel and Mediterranean regions, according to Agence Marocaine de Presse (MAP), Morocco’s state news agency. The two countries reached the agreement in early…

ADF STAFF The fishing nets hauled aboard a Chinese trawler swelled with sardinella, a tiny silver fish that is a source of food and income in Ghana. Some of the catch was dead and thrown overboard, and much of it was transferred from the trawler to a large canoe capable of carrying about 450 times more fish than an artisanal fishing canoe. The Chinese trawler was fishing in an area designated for artisanal fishermen. The transshipment of fish at sea, known as “saiko,” is illegal in Ghana. In 2017, saiko took 100,000 tons of fish from Ghanaian waters, costing the…