In Cayar, this Friday, November 21, 2025, like fishing communities around the world, Senegalese fishing professionals celebrated World Fisheries Day (WFD) under the theme "Active solidarity around the protection of fishing professions in a context of crisis accentuated by the scarcity of fish and its consequences at the level of all fishing areas of the country".

This year's celebration coincides with the implementation of the action plan of the National Coalition for Sustainable Fisheries (Conaped), which aims for the 2030 horizon and has toured the country to alert national and international public opinion to the scarcity of fish and its consequences for the food security of the Senegalese population and countries in the sub-region.

According to the organizers, this scarcity of the resource has plunged the fishing sector into a deep crisis, with internal conflicts between fishermen using different fishing techniques, as well as between artisanal fishermen and industrial fishing vessels. They denounced this crisis, stating that it has also affected the fish distribution sector with the establishment of fish markets by Asian owners of industrial fishing vessels, who are unfairly competing with Senegalese fish wholesalers and small-scale fishmongers.

The artisanal processing sector is not left behind, because, as the organizers note, women processors have difficulty accessing fish and are forced to obtain supplies from central markets.

For this year, Conaped, which brings together professional organizations in the artisanal and industrial fishing sector, has decided to make a plea for the securing of fishing professions (PMT), etc.

Indeed, Conaped is launching a challenge for the professionalization of fishing activities. Furthermore, fishing professionals and civil society recall that the Diomaye-President coalition made a public commitment, upon signing the charter for sustainable fishing in Ouakam, to greater transparency and openness in fisheries governance.

Conaped urges the authorities to now fulfill this commitment in order to establish a multi-stakeholder environment based on trust and consensus-oriented for collective action in favor of sound and transparent management of the fisheries sector. In light of the above, the artisanal fishing organizations that are members of Conaped have submitted a request to the State of Senegal regarding several points.