PIRACY SLOWLY KILLING NIGERIAN COASTAL FISHING

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 LAGOS 000409 SIPDIS DOC FOR 3317/ITA/OA/KBURRESS DOC FOR 3130/USFC/OIO/ANESA/DHARRIS STATE PASS USTR FOR USTR AGAMA STATE PASS USAID FOR GWEYNAND AND SLAWAETZ STATE PASS OPIC FOR ZHAN AND MSTUCKART STATE PASS TDA FOR LFITT, PMARIN STATE PASS EXIM FOR JRICHTER STATE PASS AF/RSA FOR MCCARTY STATE PASS OES FOR HOGAN STATE PASS NOAA FOR DKLEMM E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/10/2018 TAGS: PGOV ECON NOAA EPA FWS NI SUBJECT: PIRACY SLOWLY KILLING NIGERIAN COASTAL FISHING INDUSTRY REF: LAGOS 384 Classified By: Consul General Donna M. Blair, Reasons 1.4 (B,D) 1.(SBU) Summary: According to the Nigerian Trawler Owner's Association (NITOA),the incidence and violence of attacks on the Nigerian coastal fishing fleet has increased substantially in the last five years and particularly sharply in 2008 causing roughly 65% of operators to quit the business over this period. The fishing fleet receives neither effective protection nor support from the Nigerian security forces. Nigeria's rich fishing areas with significant potential to supply both domestic and foreign markets, are underexploited, increasing unemployment and reducing foreign exchange earnings. The ineffectiveness of the Nigerian authorities suggests either incompetence or perhaps complicity, at least at a local level. End Summary. Piracy Increasing in Frequency and Violence -------------- ¶2. (SBU) In a meeting on October 7, the executive council of NITOA described to POLOFF the increasing threat of piracy to the Nigerian fishing industry. (Note: the International Maritime Organization (IMO) defines piracy only as those attacks occurring on the high seas, however, the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) includes all waterborne criminal activities regardless of where they occur. End Note.) NITOA president, Margaret Orakwusi, expressed concern that international attention is focused exclusively on attacks against oil supply vessels and ignores the plight of coastal fishing companies. The NITOA members pointed out that fishing trawlers are particularly vulnerable to piracy due to the fact that when trawling their nets, their vessels have a speed of just three to four knots and hauling in their equipment takes considerable time; even when not actually trawling, fishing vessels generally can not travel at a speed of more than eight knots and so cannot escape attackers using high-speed, small craft. NITOA presented statistics showing that the number of attacks on their vessels have increased 
from four in 2003 to 55 in 2007 and have topped 70 incidents in the first nine months of this year. Fatalities have also increased dramatically from 2 in 2007 to 10 this year already. Two Types of Attacks Experienced by Trawlers -------------- ¶3. (SBU) NITOA stressed that their fleet was subject to essentially two kinds of attacks, assaults and hijackings. Assaults are most common and entail one or more small, high-powered open boats containing men armed with automatic weapons and in some cases explosives boarding the fishing vessels, and then beating and terrorizing the crew. The assailants take any cash they can find on board, valuables from the crew, electronic equipment such as the vessel's GPS, depth sounder, radio, radar etc. and the catch. All fatalities and serious injuries have occurred in this kind of incident, and crews have reported various forms of arbitrary humiliation and torture while beatings are common. In one case, the assailants remained aboard a trawler for more than three days and steamed more 150 nautical miles, using the captured vessel as a means to approach other fishing trawlers without attracting suspicion in order to carry out at total of 15 attacks. ¶4. (SBU) Hijackings are comparatively rare (just three incidents this year) and are characterized by comparatively good treatment of the crews while held, and release of crew and restoration of the vessel intact to the owner after LAGOS 00000409 002 OF 003 payment of the demanded ransom. According to the released crews, the hijacked vessels were all taken to creeks in Bayelsa state for the duration of the hijacking, and the crews were taken to camps. Returned crewmen reported that the camps were very well organized and well-stocked with food, various international currencies and "warehouses full of arms." Furthermore, according to released crewmen, the hostage takers and Nigerian security forces appeared to be in communication with one another. In addition to the hijackings, many coastal communities demand payment for the "right" to fish off their coastline. Domestic Markets, ForEx Earnings and Employment Affected -------------- -------------- ¶5. (SBU) Over the past five years the number of Nigerian trawler operators has fallen from 45 to just 15 and the number of fishing vessels operating under Nigerian flag has been reduced from roughly 250 to 170 primarily due to piracy. This has had an impact both on the fish available in the domestic market and foreign exchange earnings from fishing, particularly shrimp, NITOA's principal product. NITOA estimated that this year only 10 per cent of Nigeria's quality shrimp stocks will be fished. Foreign sales of shrimp used to represent Nigeria's second largest non-oil foreign exchange earner, but according to NITOA they no longer fall among the top-ten earners. As the fleet shrinks, jobs are lost both at sea and on shore. GON Unable or Unwilling to Address Problem -------------- ¶6. (C) Despite some high-level expressions of concern on the part of the Nigerian Navy and Nigerian Maritime and Safety Administration (NIMASA),including at an International Conference on Piracy and Armed Robbery at Sea held in Abuja in April, NITOA does not feel the Nigerian government is responding to its concerns. NITOA members decried the fact that on numerous occasions, they or their captains have provided the Nigerian Navy with precise information as to the location of pirates, but in no instance did they receive a timely response. NITOA claims that no pirates involved in trawler attacks have been stopped, pursued or captured by the Nigerian Navy. NITOA pointed out that small craft with out-board motors are often not registered, making it impossible to track the boats used in the attacks. Even where registration numbers could be noted, no action was taken against the owners of the boats involved. Similarly, no action has been taken against the coastal markets that sell stolen equipment and/or produce from the attacked vessels, or against the more than 60 camps which NITOA claims to have been identified along the coast from which the pirates operate. Notably, ransom payments for hijacked vessels and crews have been made into bank accounts held at reputable banking institutions, raising questions about Nigeria's compliance with money laundering laws, NITOA commented. Last but not least, NITOA lamented the absence of effective air-sea rescue operations in Nigerian waters. In instances where seriously injured crewmen needed emergency medical treatment, the trawler operators received no timely response to their distress calls and had to organize their own transportation to hospital. (Note: During a recent visit by the USS Elrod that included training for Nigerian Navy rescue operations, no Nigerian Navy vessel was able to put to sea for the exercise. End Note.) ¶7. (C) Comment: Given growing concerns about both global food supplies and fish reserves, the under-utilization of Nigeria's rich fishing grounds has international implications. It would benefit global fish markets and LAGOS 00000409 003 OF 003 reduce pressure on other fishing grounds if the Nigerian fishing stocks were being properly exploited. Even given the notorious incapacity of the Nigerian Navy, it is hard to believe that no action could be taken to discourage the piracy, the extortion by coastal communities and the sale of stolen goods from vessels. Particularly disturbing is the ability of hostage takers to use accounts at commercial banks for ransom payments with impunity. Given the picture drawn by NITOA it is hard to avoid the suspicion of complicity on the part of the local security forces in the armed attacks against the trawlers. ¶8. This cable has been cleared by Abuja. BLAIR