Dispatches International
says that the corruption among of- ficers and the poor consideration of small, local fishermen will not only retard the development of the fishing sector, but perhaps end it, too. Bobani explains that when he says fishermen are using ille- gal techniques to catch fish, he is placing part of the responsibility on marine soldiers and guards. “We face a lot of challenges
in this job but the major ones come from marine soldiers who are in charge of ensuring safety in the sea and from government officers whose task is to ensure there is no illegal fishing in the Indian Ocean,” says Bobani. “These soldiers are responsible for checking that fish- ermen are not crossing into places that have been reserved for the special development of precious marine creatures. They are respon- sible to check for fishing licenses so that no one can engage in fish- ing without being registered.” The problem, Bobani ex-
plains, is that the marine soldiers and the guards go beyond the call of duty and harass legitimate, small fishermen. This prevents Bobani, Kilapo, and other fisher- men from doing their work. “They do more than is neces-
sary and it is this excess that is af- fecting us,” he says. “Our soldiers have habituated themselves in giv- ing us unnecessarily long waits without any convincing reason. A soldier can stop you in the middle of the ocean while you are fishing, and he or she may cross-check your boat and license.” Bobani ex-
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plains that even if a fisherman has committed no offense, the soldier might keep him waiting and then demand a bribe. Quick payment means immediate release and a temporary end to the harassment, but any reluctance to pay a bribe means a fisherman might be held for four to six hours. “Nobody considers the fact
that by keeping us longer, we are losing customers who stand at the ferry waiting for fishermen to come,” Bobani says, apparently dis- tressed by this threat to his liveli- hood. “This of course causes great difficulty for us as we depend on the job to win our daily bread. We have got families to keep!” A small fisherman without
great prospects, Bobani wants to see the government take steps to “improve the fishing sector.” He suggests that it should start pro- grams that help fishermen by of- fering loans, grants, and other fi- nancing that will help them buy modern boats and fishing tools. “The officials blame us for fishing in shallow waters and then they command us to go to the deep sea, but they should go further than just giving orders.” “If the government can es-
tablish a situation in which we can be funded to buy modern boats so that we can go to the deep sea – and get some good fishing tools, too – things will become better than the present situation and it will be easy to prevent illegal fish- ing,” says Bobani. His perspective is simple: if the government can
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