Senegalese EEZ

Since the 1950s, exploitation of groundfish has been intense, which led to the depletion of many fish stocks in the 1960s-70s. After that period, despite increasing fishing pressure, the ecosystem seems to have maintained a relatively stable depleted state, with very low abundances of fish stocks compared to their historic virgin levels. This global stability explains why the indicators show quite flat trends for both the short term (1996-2005) and the long term (1980-2005) time periods, since both time periods occur after the major depletions and community changes. The pie diagram suggests that the Senegalese ecosystem stands in a median position compared to others: this probably reflects both its fishing history and its location in a very productive upwelling area.