MGYE, a company run by Chinese natives, has been operating in Morondava since 2017. It has invested in the purchase of halieutic products caught by the small fishermen of Morondava. The company used to propose the best offer compared to hotels and fish shops. These latter offered a buying price of MGA 6,000 per kg, while MGY started at MGA 7,500 per kg, then at MGA 7,000 per kg today. MGYE buys only large catches, if the fish are of good quality: intact, free of wounds, etc. This choice attracted small-scale fishermen who mobilized to supply the company, to the point that the big fish disappeared from the Morondava market stalls.
From 2020 onwards, MGYE has decided to fish at sea using equipment which, according to the small-scale fishermen, is not suitable for artisanal fishing. But MGYE would reportedly obtained an adequate fishing authorization and for good reason : “The company practices fishing that is still described as artisanal because they use boats equipped with 15 to 50 HP engines,” according to the Fisheries Department Director of Morondava.
Sambatsy Bernard, who heads the Avaradrova Miray fishermen’s association, explains: “We have no problem with this company investing in fishing, but it does not respect the Law”. The small-scale fishermen came to ask for explanations from the MAEP’s (Ministère de l’Agriculture, de l’Elevage et de la Pêche – MAEP) local Fisheries de Department and were surprised to be ” rebuffed “. They therefore suspect a connivance between this company MGYE and the Fisheries Department.
7km long and 18m deep nets ?
The small fishers are not concerned about the size of the MGYE boats, but rather about the size and depth of their nets. According to Mr. Randrenjarivelo Tsiry Niaina, Director of the Fisheries Department in Morondava, “the depth of a net should not exceed 2.50 meters”. However, Nicolas Valérie, president of the Sea Apostleship and trainer within the same Fisheries Department noted that “large companies can use nets up to 8 meters deep.”
This is confirmed by small fishermen such as Voantio Victor and Rafaha Angelo, inhabitants of Sans-Fil, Solofo Jofeta from Nosy Kely and Larson resident of Avaradrova, and many members of the Fikambanana Avaradrova Miray association. For these fishermen, the MGYE company “forms a dam using a net stretching up to 7km and 18m deep.”
The Fisheries Department Director says that he “sent two inspectors from his department to make an unannounced inspection of this company. The report does not mention any infraction, the nets used were all up to the regulations”. This report was not available to us.
Illegal working conditions
In Morondava, the MGYE company representative, a Chinese citizen named Liu Jianke, says that “the company scrupulously respects the law, but we are denigrated by the small fishermen.”
Liu Jianke’s explanations, through his interpreter, inform us of the functioning of the sea teams: “on a boat, each team is composed of a Chinese who heads and six Malagasy workers.” None of these latter has signed an employment contract and is not affiliated to the National Social Security Fund (Caisse Nationale de Prévoyance Sociale – CNaPS). Liu Jianke replied: “It is difficult to have contracts with these workers because they change too often. These young people are not very hardworking.” A worker who approached us discreetly and anonymously confided that he was handicapped for life after an accident at sea : his arm was injured. The company did not cover medical expenses for the injured person, who had to stop working. “However, confides the latter “the company nevertheless accepted that I could return to work at another post, but without a contract”.
It is difficult to have contracts with these workers because they change too often. These young people are not very hardworking.
Liu Jianke, MGYE company representative
A sea trip lasts five days, and the monthly salary is MGA 400,000, according to this MGYE manager. Yet, by discreetly talking to the workers, we were able to determine that they actually earned MGA 5,000 per day of work, whether they were captains or seamen. When asked about this difference, Liu Jianke refers to “bonuses if the fishing is good”, which would bring the amount paid to fishermen down to 400,000Ar. None of the fishermen confirmed this statement.
What if the fish disappeared ?
Fishing is usually the main source of income for these small-scale fishermen. Today, they believe that MGYE is controlling the fishery and imposing its practices. Whether they are in Avaradrova, Morondava or Tanambao Port of Belo-sur-mer, 100 km away from Morondava, small-scale fishermen are worried that the fish stock is depleting. They accuse these boats of blocking the continental plateau with their large nets where they usually fish.
Indeed, with equipment that is much more sophisticated than the traditional fishermen’s boats, the company can stay at sea longer and fill its nets. A first boat goes ahead to throw the long net and the second one follows to collect the products. In fact, the company uses two boats, Hia I and Hia II, both of which are fully documented by the Maritime, Port and River Agency (Agence Maritime, Portuaire et Fluviale – AMPF) of Morondava.
As for the small fishermen, they practice line fishing or use small nets. They go to sea at dawn and only get back on land around 7 pm, depending on the distance from the fishing site.
The Fisheries Department has no means of monitoring
In the Morondava Fisheries Department, it is stated, contrary to what local fishermen claim, that the Hia I and Hia II boats launch their nets between the space reserved for industrial fishermen who use 50 HP boats and the space reserved for small-scale fishermen who cannot reach high seas.
But if the Administration cannot really confirm or deny the fishermen’s concerns, it is mainly due to a lack of means. The control of activities on the high seas, and at depth, requires adapted equipment: “We do not have the necessary means to go to depths and are limited to inspecting only on land,” the Morondava Fisheries Department Director confided. But it is clear that this Department, through the voice of its director, has already formed a clear opinion on the situation : “people are deliberately upsetting the activities of these Chinese nationals who have respected the law so far,” he summarizes, echoing Liu Jianke’s words. He went on to say: “If these Chinese leave, business will become even more difficult because they will be replaced by people who are used to dealing with ‘micmacs”. In the opinion of the Morondava Fisheries Department, and despite the concerns and suspicions expressed by fishermen, and the Administration’s inability to carry out a proper inspection, this MGYE company would be a model of respect for the law and working conditions.
To date, no compromise has been found between the two parties. The small-scale fishermen are still shouting loud and clear that they are being harmed by the over-equipped boats and are demanding that the Fisheries Department review their controls of these boats’ equipment. A date should have been set to make a joint assessment of this equipment, in the presence of the Fisheries Department and the small-scale fishermen’s association representatives. This meeting has not yet taken place.
