Somalia Pirates Are Merely Resisting Toxic Nuclear Wastes Dumping And Over Fishing

Somalia Pirates Are Merely Resisting Toxic Nuclear Wastes Dumping And Over Fishing
Written by Paul I. Adujie
Lawcareer@gmail.com
New York, United States







Somalis Are Fighting Against Nuclear Toxic Wastes and Over-Fishing on Somali waters.

There is so much money still being made from Somaliland and it is not directly from wars or weapons used in it! And Somalis are not the ones profiting fishing Somali territorial waters.


According to reports, it's estimated that $300 million worth of seafood is stolen from Somali waters altogether every year—a massive amount in any country, but even more so in one with such a depressed economy as Somalia's. Stories told to The New York Times Some local fisherman believe there will be no fishing industry to speak of if the practice goes on unchecked—so over-plundered are the fish populations in Somali waters. There are even higher estimates of $450 million dollars profits for outsiders engaged in overfishing on Somali waters.


Great sums of money are being made by many nations from Somalia even in the midst of wars and endless chaos during the most of the preceding twenty-years, factually, money is being made off of Somali, by peoples outside of Somalia. The sad tragedy of it all is that Somalis are not the ones making monies from their country and surrounding topographies. There is still so much money being made by foreigners in Somalia, nonetheless!


Who in the entire world would think of Somalia, a nation without government for about 20 years and think of profit? Not even the experts in chaos theory! Thinking of Somalia and profit in the same sentence is possible. Fishing trawlers and toxic wastes vessels have been doing just this thing of fathoming egregious profit from the political turmoil and failure of the nation state of Somaliland.

As Somalis squabbles for over two decades, outsiders have profited from sale of weapons to naked exploitation of the chaotic situation and taking benefits through over fishing without tariff or tax and regulations. Toxic wastes dumpers have been doing brisk business amidst and despite the chaos. Toxic wastes dumpers actually have found the chaos idyllic for the unbridled criminality required as necessity for dropping off toxic wastes in the backyards of distressed Somalis… it is the way the world works!

The New York Times on Monday October 19th 2009, reported that Somali pirates seized a Chinese cargo ship Monday with 25 people onboard, the attack occurred early Monday in the Indian Ocean about 700 miles (1,100 kilometers) east of the Somali coastline. And it was said to be the farthest afield the pirates had ever struck.

The latest activity by the Somalis reemphasizes the urgency for a solution, a holistic solution to the political vacuum which has made the challenges in Somalia possible. According to The New York Times, “the multimillion-dollar ransoms they share are a fortune in their impoverished and war-ravaged country” It will be recalled that Somalia was always there and piracy was not always present on Somali waters!

A recent article also revealed that “The surprising root of Somali piracy is desperation to which Somalia and Somalis have been left” Somalia have been neglected and left for decades. This conspiracy of neglect by the whole world; and the fact that Somalia is still being ignored, while criminal elements continue to dump toxic nuclear wastes and equally engage in brazen overfishing on Somali waters have culminated in hardships, hopelessness and desperation of which piracy are a natural consequences. Suffering and desperation has reached breaking points in Somalia.

It was editorialized recently in these terms, “When things get bad, people get desperate – and things in Somalia have been really bad for a while. Somali pirates have taken over the Gulf of Aden and as you know, unless you’ve been living under a rock, have been in the news a lot lately for taking international hostages. While some people might opine that these pirates are simply bloodthirsty criminals, the fact is that stark hardships have spurred these people to act for their own survival, at all costs” The New York Times Desperate persons who have nothing to lose, are most dangerous, and that is the present situation in Somalia and the piracy epidemic. Global Security will only be attained through shared prosperity.


Congressman Donald Payne from New Jersey's 10th Congressional District, not long ago, eloquently made a powerful argument; to the effect that America’s national interest dictates action and efforts which will stabilize Somalia. He argues poignantly that there is a connection between the neglect of Somalia as she has descended into instability and chaos, a connection with consequences on shipping lanes with impact on world commerce, as well as the obvious risks of Somalia turning into breeding grounds for criminal elements of the global terrorism types. Somalia has been neglected by western nations, even as these same nations engage in nation building in Afghanistan which has so far consumed more than $500billion dollars. Conversely, Somalia has been neglected and left to her own devices for decades. This is also at the same time period during which the invasion and occupation of Iraq has cost Americans a trillion dollars and counting!

Cause/Effect?
There is a cause and effect connection or relationship between neglect of the very poor human conditions in Somalia. There are very extreme hardships and sufferings which persist in Somalia. There is a connection between the criminal enterprises of toxic wastes dumping and overfishing which is inflicted upon Somalis by other nations. Why is the world’s complaint about Somalia singularly focused on ensuing piracy? What if, instead, we seek the causes of the Somali condition, which have manifested itself into effect and what a surprise? There is surely Cause/Effect?

American and European nations have been dumping toxic waste off the coast of Somalia and illegally fishing in Somali waters; an effective Somali government might. Nobody seem to think, maybe Somalis resent Americans and Europeans for dumping toxic wastes on their lands! Some nations have been cashing in, on Somalis internal crises and instability. While these nations pretend that Somali crises are insoluble.

In a 45-minute interview, Mr. Sugule spoke on everything from what the pirates wanted (“just money”) to why they were doing this (“to stop illegal fishing and dumping in our waters”) to what they had to eat on board (rice, meat, bread, spaghetti, “you know, normal human-being food”).

He said that so far, in the eyes of the world, the pirates had been misunderstood. “We don’t consider ourselves sea bandits,” he said. “We consider sea bandits those who illegally fish in our seas and dump waste in our seas and carry weapons in our seas. We are simply patrolling our seas. Think of us like a coast guard.”

The pirates who answered the phone call on Tuesday morning said they were speaking by satellite phone from the bridge of the Faina, the Ukrainian cargo ship that was hijacked about 200 miles off the coast of Somalia on Thursday. Several pirates talked but said that only Mr. Sugule was authorized to be quoted. Mr. Sugule acknowledged that they were now surrounded by American warships, but he did not sound afraid. “You only die once,” Mr. Sugule said

The piracy industry started about 10 to 15 years ago, Somali officials said, as a response to illegal fishing. Somalia’s central government imploded in 1991, casting the country into chaos. With no patrols along the shoreline, Somalia’s tuna-rich waters were soon plundered by commercial fishing fleets from around the world. Somali fishermen armed themselves and turned into vigilantes by confronting illegal fishing boats and demanding that they pay a tax

He said that so far, in the eyes of the world, the pirates had been misunderstood. “We don’t consider ourselves sea bandits,” he said. “We consider sea bandits those who illegally fish in our seas and dump waste in our seas and carry weapons in our seas. We are simply patrolling our seas. Think of us like a coast guard.”

There have been seagoing pirates throughout history -- from plundering Vikings to 17th-century raiders who pillaged Spanish galleons. In recent years, a spate of attacks off the Horn of Africa has shown that piracy can still be highly profitable as well as dangerous.

In Somalia, a country of grinding poverty and internal chaos, the pirate economy is booming. The piracy is an extension of the corrupt, violent free-for-all that has raged on land since the central government imploded in 1991. It has turned the waters into the most dangerous shipping lanes in the world.

The pirates have spread themselves across thousands of square miles of water, from the Gulf of Aden, at the narrow doorway to the Red Sea, to the Kenyan border along the Indian Ocean.
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/p/piracy_at_sea/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier

Thousands of Somalis once made their living as fishermen. But Somalia has been without a central government for nearly two decades—so there’s no active body that’s able to effectively protect the country’s rights to its coastline, and the once-abundant supply of fish it held. So now, due to the willingness of foreigners to exploit fisheries off Somalia’s coast, and the lack of a governing body to stave them off, many of these fishermen are finding their nets empty.

And without the ability to bring home even a sufficient amount of fish to eat, many of these fisherman justifiably grow desperate. But even from here, it’s not a simple jump to pirating. Initially, many of the now-termed “pirates” were vigilante patrol squads, steering their boats to fishing vessels they found illegally snagging seafood or dumping toxic waste in Somali waters. After this proved ineffective, something closer to organized piracy developed.

Read more about one Somali pirate’s account of the motivation to hijack ships and take hostages at The New York Times.

Beyond overfishing, there’s another major problem for Somalis: the dumping of radioactive waste into the country’s coastal waters. Since the collapse of Somalia’s government in 1991, Western governments and corporations have taken full advantage of the lack of oversight and used the country as a dumping ground. The secret was uncovered after the 2004 tsunami, but has barely received coverage in the media. Some people even claim that some of the pirates are eco-warriors, working to clean up the mess.

So, what does it all come down to? Greed. Power. Lack of concern for other human beings – on all sides. The ugliest facets of human nature. Somali pirates can’t be let off the hook for their actions because of the injustice they’ve been through, but they aren’t all the evil killers that so many people make them out to be.

Somalis have grabbed international headlines because they hijacked ship is carrying a large cache of weapons. Somalis do not in fact see themselves as pirates. "We don't consider ourselves sea bandits," said the pirates' spokesperson. "We consider sea bandits those who illegally fish in our seas.

The New York Times, The Independent
http://www.grist.org/article/ArrrFishin/
Under Reported News Stories on Leonard Lopate Show at WWW.WNYC.Org

Overfishing is a global disaster
According to a 2008 UN report, the world's fishing fleets are losing $50 billion USD each year through depleted stocks and poor fisheries management. The report, produced jointly by the World Bank and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), asserts that half the world's fishing fleet could be scrapped with no change in catch. In addition, the biomass of global fish stocks have been allowed to run down to the point where it is no longer possible to catch the amount of fish that could be caught.[5] Increased incidence of schistosomiasis in Africa has been linked to declines of fish species that eat the snails carrying the disease-causing parasites.[6]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overfishing

Talk Like a Pirate Day

Over three quarters of our planet are covered by the oceans. Their biodiversity is unmatched and they contain over 80 percent of all life on earth, mostly unexplored. Millions of people worldwide are depending on the oceans for their daily livelihoods. More and more all this is endangered because of ignorance and a global lack of management.
Overfishing.org is an independent source of information on the
http://overfishing.org/ Overfishing

Pirates involved in the high-profile hijacking of an arms shipment off the coast of Somalia said recently that they were driven to piracy by overfishing. In 1991, the country's government collapsed and patrols that had guarded against international plunder of Somalia's tuna-rich waters suddenly stopped. Commercial fishers from around the world rushed in and decimated the area's once abundant fish population. Angry Somali fishers then took up arms and starting confronting illegal fishing boats

Overfishing Not Fishermen’s Fault, Say ‘Deadliest Catch’ Seamen
UK Fishermen Dump Catch Overboard to Make More Money
3 Reports Don’t Lie: Ocean Fish Rapidly in Decline
End of the Line: We’ll be Out of Fish by 2050
Fisherman Returning to Use of Sails as Fuel Costs Rise

The Guardian
• State Horse Councils' Lobby for Horse-Slaughter!
• Get SHARKWATER to Malta
• Somalia impoverished need help to restore fish stocks.

Powered by Social Actions
Written by Stephanie Rogers • Filed Under Environment
Tagged: Oceans, Overfishing, Pirates, Pollution, Radioactivity

• Somalia impoverished need help to restore fish stocks.
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overfishing#Instances_of_overfishing
• http://community.oceana.org/blog-freetags/african-overfishing
•
• Somali Pirates And Over-Fishing
• Posted by Big Gav in fishing, piracy, Somalia
• The Independent has a report on the standoff offshore Somalia between a group of irate (who blame over-fishing for their having to resort to harvesting other forms of wealth from the sea) and the US and Russian navies - Cold War stand-off over pirates' weapons ship. Chatham House is speculating piracy may drive shipping away from the red Sea, increasing the price of oil and other goods in Europe and North America.

• Russia has dispatched a frigate to the scene of an increasingly tense stand-off between the US Navy and pirates who have seized a tanker laden with tanks and weapons in the Indian Ocean off Somalia.



• Pirates, many operating out of former fishing ports, are deploying increasingly sophisticated methods, including high speed launches, GPS trackers, and satellite communications, to target shipping.

• The London-based think-tank Chatham House says piracy could see shipping forced away from the Gulf and into the longer route to Europe and North America, producing a drastic effect on oil and commodities prices. This is a clear warning of more dire consequences to come, consequences with global impact. It has become more and more, in the world’s best interests find peace, security and prosperity for Somalia.



• http://peakenergy.blogspot.com/2008/10/somali-pirates-and-over-fishing.html

• BM Opinion: Somali piracy reflects destruction of marine life, not religion

• The London-based think-tank Chatham House says piracy could see shipping forced away from the Gulf and into the longer route to Europe and North America, producing a drastic effect on oil and commodities prices.


• The path towards a constructive policy is most threatened by certain pundits who utilize the supposed links between the pirates and Al Qaeda to advance their twisted political agenda of demonizing every person of the Muslim faith and the religion itself.

• Piracy in Somalia is not inspired by Islam, but by illegal foreign acquisition and destruction of East Africa’s marine resources. Having driven the blue-fin tuna into near extinction in the Atlantic Ocean, more European trawlers have moved into the Indian Ocean to take advantage of the abundant yellow-fin tuna population. According to Somali fishermen, the poachers not only engage in destructive overfishing, but also employ vicious measures against local communities that protest the depletion of their resources.

•
• According to the Kenyan analyst Mohamed Abshir Waldo, there have been many instances of European pirates attacking local demonstrators by pouring “boiling water on them and even shooting at them, running over their canoes and fishing boats.” Waldo continues to argue that roughly $450 million worth of fish have been forcibly extracted from the Somali people. Those are not merely profits taken from the Somali people, but foodstuffs that are critical to the basic survival of the impoverished nation.

Research by Sadia Aden, President of the Somalia Diaspora Network, revealed that 3.5 million Somalis currently face starvation. In March 2009, the UN humanitarian agency estimated that only 2.8 million Somalis receive food aid. This still leaves hundreds of thousands without access to even the most inadequate food aid. The overfishing has directly incentivized young starving men to pursue the lucrative business of piracy.

The atrocities do not stop at the theft of Somali livelihoods, but is exacerbated by the indiscriminate attack on the health of the coastal communities. The 2004 Tsunami brought to surface the extent of the abuses by irresponsible foreign corporations. Twenty years of toxic medical, industrial, chemical and radioactive waste began washing ashore following the great natural disaster. European corporations had taken advantage of the chaos in Somalia by dumping waste off its shores for one hundredth the cost of proper disposal of such content in Europe. As a result of these selfish cost-cutting measures, coastal communities are now forced to bear the burdens of respiratory and skin infections, mouth ulcers and bleeding, and abdominal hemorrhages. When pirates hijacked the Ukrainian freighter in September of 2008, they claimed that ransom money will be spent to clean up “the toxic waste that has been continually dumped on the shores of our country.”

Under these conditions the Somali pirates act with a certain degree of respect from the Somalis of whom 70% support their actions as a form of national defense.

A potential solution must secure both immediate reparations and a strategy to combat overfishing. This requires world governments to decommission excess fishing boats that are destroying the marine resources all around the world. The consequence of inaction will be catastrophic. The disaffection of the Somalis will be echoed from Senegal to the Philippines where thousands of fishing communities rest on the verge of certain doom under present abuse. These communities also happen to be overwhelmingly Muslim.

To direct policy solely through this narrow fact ignores the basic human instinct and right to survive. The vulgarity of terrorism lies in its one-dimensional outlook towards perceived opponents. We would be damned to use the same narrow view to judge anyone.

http://bikyamasr.wordpress.com/2009/08/08/bm-opinion-somali-piracy-reflects-destruction-of-marine-life-not-religion/

• From tuna in the Med, the plunder of the Pacific and the devastated cod stocks in the Baltic - find out about our latest work against overfishing.
Fisheries collapse

The over-exploitation and mismanagement of fisheries has already led to some spectacular fisheries collapses. The cod fishery off Newfoundland, Canada collapsed in 1992, leading to the loss of some 40,000 jobs in the industry. The cod stocks in the North Sea and Baltic Sea are now heading the same way and are close to complete collapse.

Pirates and Fishermen « Conscripted Consumers said 28/08/2009 at 3:31 pm


An interesting take on the Piracy epidemic off Somalia « alicia.harley’s Blog

This entry was posted on 08/08/2009 at 12:25 pm and is filed under Opinion. Tagged: Islam, Marine Life, Overfishing, Piracy, Somalia. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0

Overfishing Waste Dumping Drove Somalis to Piracy

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/01/world/africa/01pirates.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&ref=world&pagewanted=print

http://www.google.com/#hl=en&q=overfishing+in+somalia&aq=f&aqi=&aq=0&aqi=g1&oq=overfishing+in+Somal&fp=2755c6b3e9b2e9

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/p/piracy_at_sea/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier

Somalia Pirates Capture Tanks and Global Notice
By JEFFREY GETTLEMAN
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/27/world/africa/27pirates.html?ref=weekinreview

How Overfishing Almost Got Capt. Phillips Killed by Pirates
More on Overfishing and Piracy:
Pacific Tuna Overfishing to be Addressed in Panama City

Overfishing Update: Endangered Atlantic Bluefin on the Menu

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/04/overfishing-pirates-phillips-somali.php

Are some, or most, of the Somali Pirates acting to protect themselves from the dumping of nuclear waste and over-fishing of their seafood?

http://www.opednews.com/populum/diarypage.php?did=12854
Overfishing African Waters
Somali Pirates Tell Their Side

An interesting NY Times piece
By JEFFREY GETTLEMAN
Somalia isn’t just a nagging geopolitical headache that won’t go away. It is also a cautionary tale. Few countries in modern history have been governmentless for so long, and as the United States has learned, it would be nice to think you could ignore this wild, thirsty, mostly nomadic nation 7,000 miles away. But you can’t.

Somali Pirates Seize Chinese Ship October 19, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/18/weekinreview/18gettleman.html?sq=rebranding%20America&st=cse&scp=7&pagewanted=print

The Greepeace International Campaigns Against Overfishing
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/oceans/overfishing




The above represent an assemblage a collage and combination of series of feature articles and a conglomeration of detail reporting on the worsening human catastrophes in Somalia. These sources have been referenced and excerpted to establish the dire situation in Somalia with incontrovertible evidences.

Clearly, there are interconnections, and we see the interwoven nature and the direct relationship between failed state Somalia and the enabling environment for those, who use Somalia, as toxic wastes dumping sites and, and those who exploit Somalia with overfishing. Hence there appears no incentive to stop Somalia from continuing hemorrhage

Then, the resulting piracy etc only, merely as a consequence of willful neglect of Somalia by the entire world. Somalia Pirates Are Actually Somalis Resisting Toxic Wastes Dumping And Over Fishing on Somalia’s territorial waters! Experts have estimated that $450 million dollars profit for outsiders yearly. Somalia’s crises, instability and insecurity, is goldmine for some. World Peace, global peace and security will remain elusive, until and unless higher value is put on every life on earth and prosperity is shared. That will bring justice, security and peace.