23 Mar 2013

SOMALIA – FISHING INDUSTRY

Somalia's 3,300 kilometer coastline – the continent's longest – gives the country's fishermen access to over 400 different species of fish in both the Indian Ocean in the east, and Gulf of Adenin the north. Decades of insecurity have made it difficult for most fishermen here to cash in on their country's rich marine livestocks. AU-UN/IST

Posted at: March 23, 2013 12:02 am

Duration: 04:54

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STORY:  SOMALIA - FISHING INDUSTRY
TRT: 4.54
SOURCE: AU/UN IST
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: SOMALI/NATS

DATELINE: 16 MARCH 2013, MOGADISHU, SOMALIA

SHOTLIST:

1. Wide shot, fisherman carrying his nets
2. Med shot, fisherman walking with his net
3. Med shot, fisherman next to their boats
4. Wide shot, fishing boats at the harbor
5. Med shot, fisherman carrying his boat motor
6. Close up, boats floating
7. SOUNDBITE (Somali) Mohammad Muzee, Fisherman:
"The equipment we use, like the boats, was inherited from our fathers. They are not new, our fathers used them and now we are using them. You would not dare get into any of them, because they're very old and you would be scared for your life, but we use them because that's how we make our living. "
8. Med shot, boats on the water
9. Med shot, fishermen bringing in their catch
10. Close up, fish inside a boat
11. Close up, man eating
12. Med shot, young men carrying fish on their heads
13. Med shot, young man carrying fish to market
14. Wide shot, men carrying fish to the market
15. Med shot, man with fish on his head walking to the market
16. Wide shot, man walking down the street with fish
17. Med shot, man with fish on a bike going to the fish market
18. Wide shot, inside the fish market
19. Med shot, marlin fish on the ground
20. Wide shot, man laying fish on the ground in the market
21. Med shot, man laying more fish on the ground
22. Med shot, fisher mongers chatting
23. Close up, man sharpening his knives and cutting the fish
24. Med shot, man cutting up fish
25. Close up, fish
26. SOUNDBITE (Somali) Ahmed Moumin Ekar, Fishmonger:
"Sometimes it's a lot, at other times its only a little. When the catch is small, we get 12 US dollars per kilogram for kingfish, but when we've got a lot, its 6 dollars per kilogram. Today, the kingfish are very few and it's always in great demand."
27. Med shot, fishmonger cutting fish steaks
28. Close up, fish steaks
29. Wide shot, Abdirizak Omar Mohamed, Minister of Natural Resources
30. SOUNDBITE (English) Abdirizak Omar Mohamed, Minister of Natural Resources:
"We don't have coast guard to guard our sea, so because of that there is a lot of illegal and unregulated fishing taking place in our sea. We have nor the means, nor the capacity to do anything at this time but it's within the policy of the government to address that issue."
31. Wide shot, workers at the Somali National Fishing Company preparing fish for export
32. Med shot, workers packing fish for export
33. Close up, ice being put into the box
34. Wide shot, export box being sealed
35. SOUNDBITE (English) Hassan Warsame Noor, Marketing & International Relations Manager, Somali National Fishing Company:
"We were sending to up to five countries before, now we have minimized only to one country Turkey. Since there is no transport from here to Turkey, although there is no transport from here to Turkey, yes there is a Turkish airline, but they don't have a fridge and cargo site in that airline. Because of that what we do is that we take the fish from Mogadishu to Nairobi, our product transits in Nairobi for sometimes hours an hours, after that we get a flight from Nairobi to Turkey. Every person can imagine how it's difficult to keep the fish for that time."
36. Wide shot, workers taking fresh fish steaks to the cold room
37. Med shot, cold room at the Somalia National Fishing Company
38. Med shot, packed fish in the cold room
39. Wide shot, tilt of frozen fish

STORYLINE:

It's early morning in Mogadishu and fisherman in the Somali capital are bringing their catch in to the harbor. Somalia's 3,300 kilometre coastline, the continent's longest - gives the country's fishermen access to over 400 different species of fish in both the Indian Ocean in the east, and Gulf of Aden in the north.

But decades of insecurity has made it difficult for most fishermen here to cash in on their country's rich fish stocks.

One of the mostly artisanal and small-scale fishermen that operate in Somalia's waters, Mohammad Muzee said that "The equipment we use, like the boats, was inherited from our fathers. They are not new, our fathers used them and now we are using them. You would not dare get into any of them, because they're very old and you would be scared for your life, but we use them because that's how we make our living."

In the 1980's the government of former president Siad Barre created fishing cooperatives and legislation to regulate and develop the sector, as well as manage its fleet of five fishing trawlers operating in Kismayo and its other ports.

But like most of country's infrastructure and economy, the fishing industry was devastated during the civil war that followed Barre's ouster in 1991. Pirates took charge of  many stretches of Somalia's coastline  and foreign trawlers were seen fishing here illegally as the transitional government battled al Qaeda-linked group al Shabaab for control of the country.

The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) was deployed in 2007 and has supported troops serving under Somalia's new government force al Shabaab out of Mogadishu and most of central and southern Somalia.

The busy Hamarwayne market in Mogadishu managed to stay open during decades of conflict and is now experiencing a boom due to the increased security. The market and its growing number of customers provide a lifeline for fishermen, traders and even porters who hand carry the day's catch of kingfish, tuna, sailfish and sharks from the shore to eagerly waiting fishmongers.

Ahmed Moumin Ekar said that "Sometimes it's a lot, at other times its only a little. When the catch is small, we get 12 US dollars per kilogram for kingfish, but when we've got a lot, its 6 dollars per kilogram. Today, the kingfish are very few and it's always in great demand."

Somalia's new Minister of Natural Resources, Abdirizak Omar Mohamed, says the industry's potential to bring in much-needed revenue and create jobs is largely untapped.

The Minister said, "We don't have coast guard to guard our sea, so because of that there is a lot of illegal and unregulated fishing taking place in our sea. We have nor the means nor the capacity to do anything at this time, but its within the policy of the government to address that issue."

At a small fish-processing factory in the heart of the Mogadishu, a private company has been demonstrating the economic possibilities of the industry for 20 years. The Somali National Fishing Company operates its own fleet and also buys from local fisherman and then prepares and packs the fish for export. The company hopes that improved security will now help improve the poor transportation and storage facilities that caused it to lose customers in the past.

Hassan Warsame Noor, the Marketing & International Relations Manager for the Somali National Fishing Company said that "We were sending to up to five countries before, now we have minimized only to one country Turkey. Since there is no transport from here to Turkey, although there is no transport from here to Turkey, yes there is a Turkish airline, but they don't have a fridge and cargo site in that airline. Because of that what we do is that we take the fish from Mogadishu to Nairobi, our product transits in Nairobi for sometimes hours an hours, after that we get a flight from Nairobi to Turkey. Every person can imagine how it's difficult to keep the fish for that time".

The company and it's small-scale partners have not had it easy, but their tenacity and potential for exponential growth, are evidence that Somalia's fishing industry is yet another area where investors could focus their efforts as their country rebuilds infrastructure, and an economy frozen by over two decades of conflict and neglect.