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Senegalese EEZ - Exploitation

There is a long history of fishing off Senegal and it is a traditional way of life. Thus, fishing is of great importance both culturally and socially, and plays a vital role in the diet of the Senegalese people. With a production of about 400,000 tonnes per year, the fishery sector is now playing a strategic role in the Senegalese economy through its strong contribution to the national GDP, to the currency incomes and through the large number of jobs generated. Thus, according to the Ministry of Maritime Economy of Senegal (http:// ecomaritime.gouv.sn):
- The fishing sector occupies the first economic position in the primary sector before peanut and phosphate products;
- It is estimated that 15% of the active population is employed in this sector;
- The sector is a provider of foreign exchange through fishing licenses granted to foreign companies. In addition, the fisheries sector also contributes to the state revenue through the various fisheries agreements. As an indication, financial compensation granted by the European Union stood at nearly 43 billion CFA over the period 1994-2001;
- Fishery products are the leading source of national export. Thus, revenue generated from export of fish products reached 160 billion CFA in 1996.
The Senegalese fishery consists of two components: an artisanal fleet (of traditional canoes) and an industrial one including some foreign vessels operating since the 1960s in the context of a fisheries agreement. The main feature of artisanal fisheries is structural heterogeneity. The fishery involves people that are traditionally dependent on the sea for their livelihoods and operate in more than 200 fishing centers (or landing points) distributed all along the coast of Senegal. The Senegalese canoe fleet is by far the largest in the region. In 1982, the number of fishing canoes operating on the coast between Djifeère and St. Louis was estimated to be 4 968 units. In 2003 it reached 9 761 units, and currently there are over 10,000 canoes operating from Senegal.
The industrial fishing fleet is divided into three sectors: tuna fishing, demersal trawling and small pelagic fishing.
In Senegal, the implementation of fisheries policies and management is the responsibility of the central government and of its subdivisions, represented by the national, regional and departmental inspectorates of fisheries. The evolving dynamics of the fishing industry is also marked by the emergence of new forms of organization of professionals at the national level. These groups of professionals are currently positioning themselves as players in the new strategic relations between the state and local communities. As this is an area of development, the fishing industry has become a major field of intervention for non-governmental organizations. The actions of all institutions are part of a regulatory framework marked mainly by the Fishing Code and its implementation declaration, which aims to regulate technical devices such as the mesh size of fishing gear, the nature of the net, the size of the species targetted, the conditions of fishing councils/institutions and fishing access rights. In addition, the Senegalese legislation of fishing tends to integrate the international regulatory framework, in particular those in accordance with the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries of FAO.