How Gabon Is Leading The Way In Protecting Their Marine Life

 

     In 2016, Sea Shepherd launched Operation Albacore, a partnership with Gabon to weed out illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing in their waters. Coming toward the end of Sea Shepherd's anti-whaling campaigns in the Antarctic (which saved 6,000 whales and ultimately saw Japan leave Antarctica in 2019), it was met with skepticism by the group's supporters. However, with a few possible exceptions, this is the most impactful campaign Sea Shepherd has ever conducted and comes at a time when Gabon is ramping up their work defending their marine life.

     In 2017, Gabon's president announced the creation of a combined total of 20 new marine parks and aquatic reserves covering 26 percent of Gabon's oceans, surpassing the network of protected areas that covers 10 percent of Gabon's land area and making it the largest network of marine protected areas in Africa. In 2018, Gabon banned the practice of setting tuna nets on whales and whale sharks to capture the fish underneath them. This came after Gabon partnered with Sea Shepherd's legal division to change its fisheries laws in 2018, and it was just the beginning of some sweeping change. In 2019, Gabon announced it was partnering with Sea Shepherd to secure the creation of Africa's first sanctuary for sharks and rays, encompassing the entirety of Gabonese waters, including a total ban on the practice of finning. That year, Gabon also announced it would phase out FADs (fish aggregating devices) after it was revealed they caught eight times as many juvenile fish as other forms of fishing and after authorities conducted a high-profile rescue of a whale tangled in an FAD that year. Meanwhile, dozens of marine species have been granted protection.

     Gabon's fisheries minister has twice joined Sea Shepherd on patrol, and this has resulted in some significant changes. In 2021, after a shrimp trawler was arrested with more than 99 percent of animals onboard being bycatch, or creatures of no commercial value that were caught accidentally and are thrown overboard to die, he announced that the country's shrimp fishery would be suspended. He also expelled a vessel that was captured defying the country's ban on setting nets on whales in a tragic viral video. Since 2016, Operation Albacore has resulted in the arrest or sanction of 15 vessels for defying Gabon's world-leading marine conservation laws. Meanwhile, Gabon has worked to expand their mission to neighboring countries, with the neighboring island nation of São Tomé y Príncipe busting three vessels as part of the campaign. Gabon has also begun arresting IUU vessels on its own, including the 2019 arrest of a trawler for fishing in a famous protected area known as the "Land of the Surfing Hippos." While Gabon's six-year partnership with Sea Shepherd continues, it has increasingly set up a parallel program of protection and capacity building. This was the overall goal, and Sea Shepherd, Gabon, and all those involved should be proud of what they have accomplished.