Snared by the lure of migration

Fishermen pulling in their net from a pirogue in Dakar. Senegal is struggling to stem a flow of people attempting to reach the Canaries, a Spanish archipelago and a gateway to Europe, by sea, often in long wooden fishing vessels. — AFP

THESE days, when a Senegalese fisherman climbs into a canoe, it’s likely to be the last time – either he is leaving his life behind in hope of a new one in Europe, or failing in the attempt.

Small-scale fishing has long been a mainstay of Senegal’s economy and its communities along the Atlantic coast, but over-fishing, industrial competition and the impacts of climate change are taking their toll.