Displacement, disempowerment and corruption: challenges at the interface of fisheries, management and conservation in the Bijagós Archipelago, Guinea-Bissau

Cross, Helen

Displacement, disempowerment and corruption: challenges at the interface of fisheries, management and conservation in the Bijagós Archipelago, Guinea-Bissau

2016

Cross, Helen

Small-scale fishers working in the West African Bijagós Archipelago are predominantly regional in-migrants, often living in isolated fishing camps (or economic enclaves) where capture, processing and trading activities occur. This paper explores the factors driving the fishing camp formation, relations with non-camp communities and interactions with prominent authority groups. One camp, presented here in the context of an anthropological case study, lost access to Ancopado beach during the designation of Orango National Park. Following violent evictions, migrant fishers shifted their efforts into less-observed waters, introducing challenging power negotiations with indigenous Bijagós islanders and fisheries authorities. Fishing persists inside the marine protected area, indicative of non-compliance by small-scale fishers who continue to resist a weak resource management agenda. The implications of this situation are discussed in terms of human rights to fish.

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