Public policies to support artisanal fishing in Senegal: between inconsistency and perverse effects

The objective of the paper is to present an analysis of the existing tensions between the national and external markets for fishery products and the relevance of public policies to support artisanal fisheries in Senegal. The method consisted of analyzing national data on production, local supply, foreign trade and the evolution of retail fish prices on the local market. Overall, the analysis shows the increasing difficulty of obtaining higher quality fish at a price that corresponds to the purchasing power of the Senegalese: the export market absorbs most of the fish with high commercial value and impeccable quality, while the domestic market has to make do with species that are not highly prized abroad and with downgraded fish that are not suitable for export. Thus, Senegalese artisanal fishing supplies the foreign market more than it supplies the local market. This situation renders illusory the contribution of fishing to the food security of the Senegalese people, which is so highly praised in the strategic documents of public fisheries policies. In addition, this situation creates tensions around the resources and markets. These tensions will be even more important in the decades to come with the situation of over-exploitation of fisheries resources and climate change, but also the significant population growth of developing countries. The expected demographic growth will mechanically increase the national demand for fishery products. The implementation of a production domestication policy, the revision of policies to support artisanal fishing, as well as regulation of the selling price per kilogram according to the species, are necessary to reach at least the world consumption average of 20 kg/pers/year and to make fishing a determining sector for the nutritional security of Senegalese.