“I lost my sons, nephews, and grandson in this tragedy. I lost my older brother’s son. I can say that I lost almost ten relatives in this shipwreck. It is so heartbreaking,” Modou Boye Seck, a resident of Fass Boye, a coastal town in Senegal told the NGO Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF).

The tragedy Seck refers to is that of irregular migration, from Senegal and the Gambia to Europe — more specifically, to the Spanish Canary Islands, which lie off the western coast of Africa. This perilous route claimed more than 2,000 lives in 2024, according to Spain-based migrant protection NGO Caminando Fronteras.

The number of Senegalese dying in their attempt to reach Europe is likely much higher, given that many others attempt the journey from neighboring Mauritania. The Mauritania-Canary Islands crossing resulted in nearly 7,000 deaths last year.

Saint-Louis, a hub for fisheries in Senegal, lies on the border with Mauritania. It has seen a massive migration of its youth, many of whom travel to Mauritania to reach Europe.

According to the EJF report, the rising trend of irregular migration from Senegal is tied to the overexploitation of marine resources — not only by artisanal and industrial domestic fleets, but also by foreign fishing operations. This includes both legally sanctioned fishing under the EU-Senegal fisheries partnership agreements, and illegal practices by vessels that often operate with little oversight.

Senegal has a 700-kilometer (430-mile) coastline. It also benefits from a natural phenomenon known as upwelling, where nutrient-rich cold waters rise to the surface, boosting marine biodiversity and fish abundance. As a result, the fishing industry plays a crucial role in the lives of Senegalese people.

Fisheries provide around 68% of energy intake of animal origin for local households. Ten years ago, Senegalese used to consume up to 29 kilograms (64 pounds) of fish per person per year. But due to declining market supply, this figure has now dropped to 17.8 kg (39.2 lbs).

“Over the past five to 10 years, we’ve noticed overexploitation of pelagic fish,” Bassirou Diarra, head of EJF’s Dakar office, told Mongabay. These species live near the surface or between the surface and the seabed, and include sardines, anchovies and tuna.

Decades of overfishing by both the industrial and artisanal fleets, as well as increasing export volumes and the rise of nonfood uses such as for fishmeal and fish oil, have placed immense pressure on Senegal’s fish populations. Over the last 10 years, more than 50 fishmeal and fish oil factories have opened in the region, transforming thousands of tons of fresh fish into feed for industrial aquaculture and livestock, mainly in Europe and Asia, according to Greenpeace.

Of the 13 Senegalese artisanal fishers interviewed by EJF in 2023, most reported frequently seeing bottom trawlers fishing in or around their fishing areas.

“[Bottom trawlers] are vessels that drag nets along the seabed — mainly shrimpers,” Diarra said. “But they are not selective at all. They scrape the ocean floor and destroy part of the marine fauna and flora. Often, they also cause collisions with the canoes or fishing gear of artisanal fishers.”

He added that this “creates a shortage of fish in the ocean and impacts the fishing communities who depend on these species to survive. So, when these resources are devastated, people turn to other strategies, including illegal immigration.”

In Senegal, nearly one in two people of working age is unemployed. The lack of opportunities makes leaving the country seem more appealing for younger generations.

Yet outsiders have been turning up to Senegal’s shores for decades seeking opportunities. Since the 1980s, Asian and European vessels have begun fishing in this area, sometimes illegally.

According to EJF, some foreign companies that hold fishing licenses in Senegalese waters have a documented history of illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, yet continue to operate within Senegal’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

This includes Chinese company Changhai County Zhangzidao Yifeng Aquatic Products and South Korea’s Dong Won, fined by Liberia for fishing without a license and failing to declare its catches. Mongabay contacted both companies about these allegations, but didn’t receive a response by the time this story was published.

In May 2024, the European Commission issued a “yellow card” to Senegal, a formal warning calling for stronger action against IUU fishing, before suspending fishing agreements with the country a few months later.

Advocacy groups ClientEarth and Oceana argue that European vessels themselves breach the EU’s IUU fishing regulation, which requires member states to ensure their fleets fish legally and transparently, especially when operating in foreign waters.

Vessels avoid regulations in various ways, for instance by changing their flags or deactivating their automatic identification systems (AIS) and making themselves “invisible.”

EJF and ClientEarth analyzed data showing the vessels, many of them from Spain, have been observed “going dark” for extended periods, prompting concerns about what happens while they’re invisible to regulators. This lack of traceability undermines fisheries governance in a region where fish stocks are already under severe pressure.

In April 2025, Oceana and ClientEarth filed a formal complaint accusing Spain of failing to monitor its fleet’s compliance with EU regulations, particularly when it comes to AIS use. For now, according to ClientEarth, Spanish authorities have denied any wrongdoing.

“The authorities simply told us, ‘We have the best fisheries monitoring system in the world. Don’t worry, everything is under control,’” Nils Courcy, senior lawyer for protected wildlife and habitats at ClientEarth, told Mongabay.

“We want something concrete. Spain must prove that their monitoring is effective and that they’re truly preventing illegal fishing and human rights violations,” he said.

Mongabay contacted the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food for an interview, but didn’t receive a reply by the time this article was published.

“I get so angry when these nations [from the European Union] complain about immigration, because they are the real pirates, and what they do is worse than illegal immigration,” Karim Sall, president of AGIRE, a Senegalese organization working in the Joal-Fadiouth marine protected area, told the authors of the EJF report. “We risk our lives to go there, but they come here to steal our fish.”

Banner image: Artisanal fishermen fishing in Senegalese waters, not far from Madeleine Island. Image by Elodie Toto.