Europe’s super-trawlers have fished their own waters clean. Now, they have appeared off the coast of Africa. The government of Gabon has teamed up with a militant conservation group called Sea Shepherd, whose members are notorious for employing extreme tactics to thwart marine poaching. It is estimated that up to 26 million tonnes of fish, including tuna, mackerel, and herring, are caught illegally off West Africa annually. This costs the countries along the coast billions of dollars and hundreds of thousands of jobs. Moreover, every year, millions of tonnes of sharks, sea turtles, and unwanted fish are crushed to death in huge nets along with the target catch.
