Fishermen in southern Somalia complain of harassment by foreign warships

August 18, 2009 Markacadeey

Fishermen along the Lower Shabelle coastline have been complaining about foreign ships along the Somali coast which are said to be fighting Somali pirate groups. The fisherman have said they are unable to fish along the coastlines as a result of the high ocean currents and strong winds adding that upon going deep into the sea, they are met by these foreign warships which tell them that they are not allowed to fish in the high seas. The fishermen said this makes their work very difficult as they sometimes spend a lot of fuel getting to these parts of the ocean.

There has been a decrease in the supply of fish in Marka and Barawa in Lower Shabelle [southern Somalia] as the prices have sky rocketed and are well beyond the reach of most residents.