In the small Senegalese town of Kayar the women who dry and smoke a fish called yaboi are proud of their processing center, built in 2014. The only problem, they say, is the once regular yaboi supply has begun to falter, vanishing instead into foreign ships and intensive animal farming operations that raise fish, pigs and poultry for meat.
In years past, the 350 or so women who collectively own the Kayar processing center would have spent most of the week preparing yaboi for sale around Senegal, and beyond to Mali and Burkina Faso. Their work provided both a reliable income and an affordable food source for their families and others throughout West Africa.
Fish are a key part of West African diets, but even more so in Senegal. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that almost half, or 47 percent, of Senegal’s protein comes from fish. But the catch does not belong to Senegal alone. Globally, wild fisheries like this one are in trouble — the share of overexploited fish populations has more than doubled since 1980, according to Our World in Data.
Here in Kayar, the women say, any fish not snagged by international trawlers is carted to the local fishmeal factory. Originally owned by a Spanish company named Barna, the factory began test production in November 2020 and moved to full production in May 2021. In July 2022, Barna sold the factory to its current Senegalese owner, Touba Protéine Marine. Yet the change in ownership hasn’t changed the friction between the factory and many locals.
Most of the fishmeal and fish oil produced by the Kayar factory, and seven others like it in Senegal, is exported. The top three destinations in 2021 were Spain, which has one of the largest EU pig herds, Vietnam, the second largest Asian pig producer, and Togo where the farmed fish sector is expanding.
Exporting fish in these large quantities not only disturbs the marine ecosystem, it leads to further food insecurity for the Senegalese. And sending fishmeal to industrial livestock farms all but ensures it contributes to water, air and climate pollution.
A June 2021 report by Greenpeace and Changing Markets put it more starkly — arguing that Europe’s animal feed and fish farming sectors are “stealing” food from West Africa.
The fish meal industry is draining “overexploited resources” that are “critical for local populations,” the report finds, only to grind them up for industrial food animal operations.