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Greenpeace asks to shed light on presence of Russian trawler

Greenpeace Africa asked the authorities to shed light on the suspicious presence of the Russian factory ship 'Vasiliy Filippov' in Senegalese waters. It has arrived on Feb 7, 2023, and is in operation off the Petite-Côte and Casamance since Feb 8. Before flying the Russian flag, the vessel was successively registered in Poland, Namibia and Belize, denounced Greenpeace Africa. On the basis of investigations it carried out, Greenpeace added that the "Vasiliy Filippov' was operated by a Namibian company on behalf of an Icelandic company, Samherji, which has recently been the subject of corruption charges in Namibia. The vessel would contribute to putting more pressure on resources that have become increasingly scarce in Senegalese waters. Most fish stocks are overexploited and increased fishing capacity will only worsen this precarious situation. While Senegalese fishermen can no longer meet their daily needs and households are struggling to find fish for their consumption, the arrival of the trawler with the capacity for mass destruction in Senegalese waters was regarded as more than worrying. The priorities of the authorities should be to invest more in the sustainable management of resources, rather than letting industrial ships come to inflate an already overcapacity fleet, and Greenpeace Africa thus invited “the Ministry of Fisheries to clarify the suspicious presence of this Russian vessel in Senegalese waters and to specify the measures taken to protect local fishermen from this monster. A ship that has already been the subject of corruption charges in other countries cannot be found in our waters”.