HOW TO solve the problem of over-fishing in African waters?
That was the question put to an audience of fishermen in Newyln when a trio of their counterparts from West Africa came to the port on a fact-finding mission.
Celestino Oliveira, president of the Artisanal Fishermen Association of Sao Pedro in Cape Verde; Issa Moustapha Diop, a member of the National Artisanal Fishermen Federation of Mauritania, and Abdou Karim Sall, president of the Fishermen's Association of Jaol Fadiouth in Senegal, held a debate on their struggle to compete with EU vessels plundering the seas.
Sponsored by Greenpeace, the African Voices event heard the fishermen share their stories before asking advice from industry experts in Cornwall. In their fight to compete against EU trawlers, mainly from Spain and Portugal, they are finding it increasingly difficult to sustain their livelihoods or feed their families.
The gathering at the Fishermen's Mission, which marked the end of the group's tour of Europe and the UK, heard the three visitors had been impressed by what they had seen on a tour of Newlyn harbour and Sennen Cove.
Mr Oliveira said: "What we have seen in particular here is that there are many boats employing sustainable and healthy fishing methods, and this is what is at the heart of our mission here."
He recalled a time a decade ago when fishermen using traditional pirogues in Cape Verde could catch all they wanted within an hour or two. Now they have to travel for miles in their small light boats to find fish, a change which is putting many lives at risk.
Abdou Karim Sall agreed, saying: "Over-fishing does lead to a lack of stability in our countries because anything can happen when men go with empty stomachs."
The trio – and all those they represent – are pushing for reforms to the Common Fisheries Policy.
On their travels they met with fisheries commissioner Maria Damanaki at the European Parliament who heard them outline their situation. Quentin Knights, co-skipper of the Nova Spero, told the men their problems weren't as different from those of Newlyn fishermen as they might think, and urged them to fight with one voice.
"Nothing will work unless politically they have got strength, unless there is a large group that actually stick together," he said. "The problems are the same here, there is nothing different."
Mr Moustapha Diop agreed with the local men that they were all suffering the same fate.
"Our aim is not a selfish mission for Africa, " he said. "It is a mission for Europe."
article copyright THE CORNISHMAN