The Dutch flagged super trawler “Dirk Diederik”, fishing in Mauritanian waters, 30 miles from the coast. This 110 metre giant, belongs to the Dutch Pelagic Freezer Trawler Association (PFA), and is an example of the highly industrialised EU fleets that operate in and overfish West African waters with severe impact on the fish stocks, food security and the livelihoods of local people.
Greenpeace is campaigning in West Africa for the establishment of a sustainable, low impact fisheries policy that takes into account the needs and interests of small-scale fishermen and the local communities that depend on healthy oceans.
I am the editor of a local newspaper in Walvis Bay Namibia. The vessel Dirk Diederik has recently entered our waters and has all but destroyed the horse mackerel market in Namibia. Any information you may have on this vessel would be of use as we investigate how it managed to get a fishing licence to enter our waters.
Thanks, Gareth Amos