A story told by Zazavolana and Naboto.
It is with amazement that the small fishermen of Morombe have noted, in 2019, the arrival of Sri Lankan investors from the company A-H-M, specializing in fishing and collection of fishery products. Indeed, these investors would have obtained authorization from the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries (Ministère de l’Agriculture, de l’Elevage et de la Pêche – MAEP). Licenses were issued for the Ayaan Express registered 19/030/N.M, for the boat Kangoroo Express, registered as 19/029 and for two other boats. These licenses are valid for the fiscal year 2019, that is, until the closure date of the fishery set by the Malagasy government. These investors are also in possession of a product collector’s license issued by the MAEP under the number 618 1469. The licenses authorize them to work in Morombe : they are not issued in the name of these foreign investors, but in that of Mihajaninisoa Prisca Robelson, an inhabitant of the fokontany of Andabizy in Toliara. In another memorandum of understanding between the MAEP and the company A-H-M, signed on 24 April 2019 and valid for 36 months, this company is represented by Mihajaninisoa Prisca Robelson. We could not clarify the relationship between this Malagasy resident and these Sri Lankan investors, the latter having left Morombe and Mihajaninisoa Prisca Robelson did not wish to answer our questions.
Within the local Fisheries Department, internal officials are firm that “the activities of these Sri Lankan nationals and their materials are authorized by law, as the license has been issued by the Ministry in accordance with the laws,” although these investors are not mentioned at all in the official authorization documents. According to these officials, “the only violation of the law committed by these vessels is the lack of GPS required by paragraph 4 of the agreement between A-M-H and the department.”
Fishing nets from 1,000 m to 3,000 m in length
In Morombe, two-thirds of the population make their living from fishing. Jean Félix, the Tsinjorano fokontany Chief, explains: “In the past, growing, selling and sorting cape peas completed the usual livelihood of the people in Morombe. Since the cape pea collectors left Morombe, the majority of the population has turned to fishing.” Since 2011, 40 local small-scale fishermen have come together in the Tea Reaky association to protect fishery resources and coastal areas: “If the resources were to dwindle or disappear, our future generations would lose a means of subsistence,” Mosesy Jean, president of Tea Reaky association, explains.
Before the arrival of the A-H-M company, the Tea Reaky association fought to put an end to the “beangata” or “tarikaky” initiated by fishermen from Toliara : their technique consists of deploying mosquito nets of 500 to 1,000 meters (beangata) that they pull towards the beach to trap a maximum number of fish. These fishermen, who use illegal nets, have retreated to Beloha and Morondava. Shortly after this affair, the association is facing the presence of these A-H-M company fishing boats, which are over equipped.
For Tea Reake Association, while the collection license still seems to have its benefits, the fishing license is categorically rejected, in the absence of a clear dialogue and agreement to preserve the benefits of small-scale fishermen. Mosesy Jean, president of the association, suspects illicit practices: “The MAEP knows the existence and the rationale of our association. If its representatives do not wish to consult us regarding the granting of these fishing licenses, at least they could have warned us before issuing them.”
if [the fish] are held back by these dams, we will not be able to catch them !
Mosesy Jean
According to Tea Reaky members, the company A-H-N uses 3km long nets. In Morombe, this technique is called “making a dam”. The company also uses palangres, large long lines fitted with hooks along their length, which can reach 800 meters. These are extreme techniques that risk to monopolize the majority of the fishing resources available for fishing. At the Fishing Department of Morombe, they explain that the company “fishes outside the areas reserved for small fishermen”. But the president, Mosesy Jean, is indignant: “We certainly fish upstream, but the fish come from the open sea: if they are held back by these dams, we will not be able to catch them!”
For the Tea Reake association, these equipment deployed to make a fish barrier in the open sea “kills the small fishermen”. “Already, before this dam, we found that our catches were decreasing. So with the dam, let’s not talk about it anymore!” Thus, the association decided to reject the use of these fishing materials used by these foreign investors in Morombe.
Pressure on small fishermen and suspicion of corruption
After noting these practices, the Tea Reaky association met with Morombe’s mayor, Roland, and with officials at MAEP’s regional office to clarify the situation. The association also met with the Sri Lankan managers of the fishing company : “We wanted them to stop these fishing practices. No consensus was reached at the end of these meetings : “As an association, we felt some pressure on us and we had no say in the matter. That’s when we started to suspect that those who were leading the meeting had already been bribed, so they asked for the meeting to be suspended. And the discussions were broken off. »
The Tea Reake association sent a delegation to Antananarivo to ask the central MAEP to revoke the fishing license. The Sri Lankan investors and the A-H-N company, for their part, organized a seduction operation among the population of Morombe by distributing rice and school supplies. Jean Félix de Tsinjorano is explicit: “They bribed the fokontany Chiefs. Money was distributed on three separate occasions. First, MGA 50,000 were distributed when the foreigners gave the license to fish in the Morombe maritime area. Then, MGA 100,000, when the strains started. And again, MGA 100,000 during the unrest, so that the fokontany chiefs would prevent the fishermen from protesting”. This strategy could have been successful, but several fokontany Chiefs stepped back after hearing Tea Reaky’s grievances and after this association obtained the suspension of the license, during their visit to the MAEP in Antananarivo.
After the Ministry’s decided suspension of licences, the A-H-N company abandoned the use of their boats. They turned to the Malagasy, whom they pay to fish for them using their own boats, those usually used by small-scale fishermen. This episode did not last long: the company left Morombe. Only the janitor remained in the site occupied by the company.
500,000 small-scale fishermen are listed on the Malagasy territory. This artisanal fishing produces 72% of the fishing production. Yet, these small fishermen do not have exclusive fishing rights on the coastal areas. This situation puts their daily means of subsistence in danger.
The experience of Tea Reaky calls into question the lack of upstream communication between small-scale fishermen and the MAEP, through their respective regional departments. Lack of transparency, lack of dialogue, suspicions of corruption and influence peddling among the population are all issues that worry these fishermen, for whom fishing is the main, if not the only source of income. These fishermen ask to be consulted in the decisions that have impacts on their subsistence activities, to the advantage of the big operators.
