BACKGROUND PAPERS FOR SECRETARY SHULTZ'S AFRICAN TRIP

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP86T01017R000808130001-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 13
• Document Creation Date: December 23, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 22, 2012
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: September 29, 1986
• Content Type: MEMO

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DOC NO G.r
01R _5
P &PD / 2 9 SEP 1985
M1MORANDUM FOR: Gregory Bradford
Office of Regional Affairs
Bureau of African Affairs
Department of State
Chief, Geographic Issues Division
Office of Global Issues
SUBJECT: Background Papers for Secretary Shultz's
African Trip
1. We are forwarding.. for your team's use a briefing paper
entitled West Africa: The Fisheries Dilemma. The paper
summarizes and expands upon a longer study recently distributed
to the Departments of State and Defense. As you know, sanitized
versions of the full report have also been used for bilateral
discussions with the French and the Canadians and have been
provided to State and DOD for distribution (without Agency
attribution) to selected West African government officials. This
brief provides background on a resource issue of critical
economic and political significance in West Africa--an issue
which the United States, through its African Coastal Security
(ACS) program, is actively assisting African states to solve.
2. Per previous discussion between your office and mine, we
are also attaching a preliminary, working paper on South African
Townships: Crucibles of Violence. Though this report will not
be available in finished form for another month, you and your
associates might still find it useful in helping to prepare Mr.
Shultz for his trip.
3. The fisheries brief was prepared b
our Near East-Africa Branch
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I I
29 September 1986
WEST AFRICA: THE FISHERIES DILEMMA
Key Issues
The waters off West Africa support some of the richest
concentrations of marine life in the world. West African
fisheries represent an important source of foreign exchange for a
number of financially strapped coastal states and provide the
generally malnourished region with much needed protein.
Nevertheless, these fisheries present a serious dilemma for the
States involved.
Non-Africans, including the Soviets, continue to be the
main beneficiaries of the region's rich fisheries,
harvesting almost 60 percent of the annual catch.
West African states are unable to manage or police their
offshore waters effectively, and heavy, often
unrestrained exploitation of fish by Soviet and other
non-African vessels poses a growing threat to the
resource. Stocks of some of the main commercial species
are now in danger of depletion.
A decline in the fisheries resource would be a grave
loss to this food deficit region and would further erode
the economic stability of several West African exporting
states.
Growing dissatisfaction with the current situation,
including Soviet abuses, is making most West African
states more receptive to US advice and assistance than
ever before.
This briefing paper was prepared by Near 25X1
East-Africa Branch, Geo raphic Issues Division, Office of Global
Issues.
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Background
Non-African Involvement: Principal Players
Non-Africans--especially the Soviets and Spanish--benefit
most from the still poorly developed local African fishing
industry. No US vessels are currently fishing in the region.
-- A wide range of fishing activities provide the Soviet
Union with avenues for economic and political
penetration of West Africa. The Soviets take 10 percent
of their national catch in West African waters, and
supply large amounts of the "imported" fish products
consumed in the region. They are suspected by both
Africans and Western fishery experts of grossly
underreporting catches. Fishing agreements with five
coastal states in the resource rich northern zone now
give the Soviets access to local ports and allow them to
position their vessels near international shipping lanes
for potential intelligence collection activities.
Soviet joint ventures are involved in harvesting,
marketing, and processing fish in the region.
-- Spanish vessels are also heavily involved. The Spanish
catch by value exceeds that of other nations fishing in
these waters, and, like the Soviets, the Spanish are
frequently cited for violations and are suspected of
ove rfi sh ing and underreporting. They are active
primarily off the coasts of Morocco, Mauritania, and
Senegal, but also fish in the Gulf of Guinea and in
central African waters.
Economic and Nutritional Significance
Marine fish and fish products hold economic and nutritional
significance for many West African states. They play an
important role in the trade balances of several coastal
countries.
Fish sales are the principal sources of foreign exchange
for Senegal, Cape Verde, and Guinea-Bissau, and will
probably exceed iron ore as the principal source in
Mauritania in 1986; in Morocco they comprise a major
item of trade and source of employment. Their estimated
unrealized foreign exchange values in Guinea and Sierra
Leone are $60 million and $42 million respectively.
Fish are a critical source of protein in the region, and
rapid increases in population and recurrent droughts in
traditional grazing areas have added to their
importance. About one-half of the animal protein
consumed in most coastal states is in the form of fish
and fish products.
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Available statistics suggest that West Africa's catch is
less than one-half the fish that the region currently
consumes. Imports of fish products represent a sizable
drain on limited foreign exchange holdings especially
for large importers like Nigeria or economically
strapped countries like Sierra Leone or Togo.
The fishing industry in West Africa employs an estimated
600,000 traditional and 15,000 industrial fishermen.
Additional workers are employed in marketing,
processing, and distribution. Morocco, Spain's Canary
Islands, Senegal, Ivory Coast, and Ghana are the primary
exporters of marine fish and fish products in the
region.
Management Problems
West Africa's coastal states are currently hard pressed to
manage and police their offshore waters and lack adequate
technical expertise and administrative structures to develop and
implement appropriate new policies. Because of the difficulty of
mobilizing fishery expertise and financial resources at the
national level, most basic fishery management functions have been
carried out by the United Nations Food and Agricultural
Organization's Fishery Committee for the East Central Atlantic.
Naval and coast guard units in most of these states are generally
small and poorly funded, and the coastal states from Sierra Leone
to Morocco are especially helpless to stop overfishing abuses.
Opportunities for the United States
We believe that US efforts to help West Africans develop
their management capabilities and to encourage private investment
could help reduce Soviet presence in the fishery sector.
-- West African coastal states that still maintain
agreements with the Soviets are increasingly
dissatisfied. Past arrangements have not resulted in
the development of viable local fishing industries or
satisfied pressing food needs. Complaints include
Soviet failure to construct promised shore facilities,
train local personnel, or deliver necessary fish
supplies, and Soviet use of destructive fishing
practices.
Despite this unhappiness with Soviet performance,
several West African countries-- including Morocco,
Mauritania, Guinea, and Sierra Leone--have continued to
deal with Moscow. Reasons vary from fear of
jeopardizing urban fish supplies and foreign exchange
earnings to the lack of viable alternatives for
financing fishery development.
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Deteriorating economic conditions, concern for food
security, and a growing awareness of the threat to
marine resources among West African states have made
prospects for remedial actions more favorable now than
at any time during the past decade. A number of
countries including Guinea, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and
Mauritania are requesting US assistance in the
management of their fisheries.
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Spain
Canary
a o
Islands Lail)
(Spain) Palmas
Verde
o W.
o
Cape'
Atlantic
~" RABAT
Casablanca
Morocco
Algeria
~lestern
Sahara
DAKA$'?.
BANJO
Mauritania
NOUAKCHOTT
Guin
BISS)1 ~t
`carNa'
SOUTHERN ~ZONE
South
Atlantic
Ocean
QLABS
Equatorial ea)
ea/
Sao Tome and Princip
OA E
Pelagic
61.4
C ero `C'.
Douala BA
Ul.k
Point
Nola!
Zaire
nofun...... nyr.yr...nl.ron .
o n "IV .ulnorlt.tly.
Major Fishing Grounds
Demersal E Pelagic f Crustacea
Cephalopod ?( Tuna
Major shipping lane
200-nautical-mile maritime zone
Catch Composition
(1983 Volumes)
by percent
Cephalopod
5.9 -
Crustacea
1.0 -
Tuna
7.9
Mixed
12.9
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Soviet Access to West African Ports
.ir Combatant/noncombatant
naval call since 1981
40( Fishery-related port visit
0
Cape
Verde
0 1t?
PRAM.
North
Atlantic
Ocean
Boundary represenlalion ~e
nor neceeeeniy aurnor~rer~.e
South
Atlantic
Ocean
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COUNTRY
LENGTH
CO~STLINE
KM
EXTENT
CONTINENTAL
SHELF
KM
ENFORCEMENT
UNIT
FISHERY PATROL
CAPABILITIES
(JANUARY 1986)
ESTIMATED NUMBER
OF OPERATIONAL
PATROL CRAFT
POOR
MAINTENANCE
LACK OF
FUEL
SHORTAGE OF
SPARE PARTS
INADEQUATE
OR LACK AIR
INSUFFICIENT SURVEILLANCE
TRAINING CAPABILITIES
MOROCCO
2,300
75,000
Navy
MAURITANIA
754
32,500
Navy
SENEGAL
500
30,000
Navy
CAPE VERDE
1,000
10,200
Navy
3,500
GUINEA-
BISSAU
350
52,500
Navy
SIERRA
LEONE
300
29,900
Navy
IVORY COAST
600
11,600
Navy
GHANA
550
21,700
Navy
TOGO
70
1,700
Navy
BENIN
100
2,600
Navy
0
NIGERIA
860
32,300
Navy
37
CAMEROON
450
25,000
Navy
EX. GUINEA
200
50,763
Navy
GABON
800
39,000
Navy
CONGO
180
16,000
Navy
X
X
X
X
ZAIRE
40
1,029
Navy
X
X
X
X
SAO TOME/
135
43,903
Navy
X
X
X
X
PRINCIPE
*
A large number of these craft are probably not operational
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CAICH BY COUNTRY
1983
USSR
30.5%
ALL OTHER
8.7%
MAURITANIA
1.4%
GABON
1.6%
IVORY COAST
2.6%
GHANA
& -- 6)01
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1. Part of Senegal's aging industrial fishing fleet
4. Building traditional fishing boats, Banjul
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 I r 1 111h1 1 !I At
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5. The damaged Siaka Stevens, Sierra Leone's only
patrol vessel
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 1. -- - I _1 Il 11111 I 1
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