Senegal fishermen blame the BP gas plant for reducing Saint -Louis catch

Every day the fall forest, a fisherman in the northern city of Saint Louis in Senegal, heads to the sea with a mixture of emotions: hope and powerlessness.

He hopes to get a better catch from the previous day, but he is still disappointed with the thought that whatever he finds may not meet his needs.

“We used to work before, but now we’re just working to survive,” says the 25-year-old.

Like it, many other small, traditional fishermen in Saint -Louis – a major fishing center – face difficult times.

The BBC talk to a few fishermen and people related to fishing trading that everyone points to a cause – A platform for liquefied natural gas, which sits on the sea border between Senegal and Mauritania, off the coast of Saint Louis.

The Greater Tortue Ahmeyim (GTA) gas project is managed by the British multinational and gas giant BP as part of a joint venture with Kosmos Energy, as well as Petrosen and SMH, respectively, the National Petroleum Companies of Senegal and Mauritania.

BP, which has 56% working interest in the project, began its work in Senegal in 2017 after the opening of natural gas two years earlier.

Described as one of the deepest and most complex gas development schemes in Africa, the first phase of the multimigated offshore projects is expected to produce approximately 2.3 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas annually for more than 20 years.

However, residents of Saint -Louis say that this also comes with fishing restrictions, which 90% of the city’s population of over 250,000 rely for livelihood.

On Tuesday morning, with the meteorological conditions declared favorable, the fall is read with wooden canoes, painted with red, blue, yellow and other colors.

With his hook and bait, he leaves for the fishing trip during the day.

After mounting 10 km (6.2 miles) on the shore, the young fisherman approaches the giant gas facility. But he says he cannot approach because of a 500m shut -off zone, which limits fishing.

“The authorities forbid us to catch catching in this area of ​​the platform, under a penalty for confiscation or even the destruction of our fishing equipment, if we have access to it,” tells the BBC.

Fishermen say the platform is built around a natural fish -rich reef – the restrictions mean that their catch is smaller and they barely make their livelihood. This complicates the difficulties they have already faced with the competition for fish from large international trawlers.

“We are very disappointed,” says G -N Fall.

“Now we can stay until 16:00 to turn our thumbs without fish.”

BP says concerns about Senegalese fishing stocks before the gas project dates, telling the BBC in a statement: “Safety areas around infrastructure are a standard practice for protecting people and assets.”

During a forum held in Saint -Louis in October 2024, the Minister of Energy of Senegal Biram Sulie Diop expressed the need to operate oil and gas to exist with a fishing, which he described as essential for the local community.

Fishing is nearly 60,000 direct jobs and more than half a million indirect jobs in Senegal, according to the UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO). It is also reported that he also works one of six people and represents about 3% of the country’s GDP.

The majority of workers in the sector are small, traditional or “craftsmanship”, fishermen and processors.

Processing is traditionally done mainly by women. But with the reduction of the number of fish in Saint Louis, they lose their job a lot.

Diamol Sène, who dries salt fish in the sun, says some of the women who previously worked with her at a fish -processed place are already unemployed.

“The fish got too expensive, the transportation costs are high today. We earn enough to cover the costs,” says the mother at 10.

“If the canoe could go out to sea and return with (abundant) catch, all women will return to the site to work,” she says.

Fishermen say they made between $ 445 and $ 625 (£ 330 and £ 465) from a fishing trip, but nowadays they are struggling to get $ 90.

Many fishermen are pushing the decreased profits, including Mr Fall, to consider abandoning their centuries-old practice, which is seen as a tradition rather than trade.

“We are forced to continue our fishing activity because we have no other choice,” he says.

“But if there is a job opportunity, we will take it without hesitation.”

Others have already abandoned fishing for alternative opportunities, including migration in Europe.

One of those who are no longer fishing is 38-year-old Saer Diop. Since 2021, the longtime fisherman has also worked as a carpenter – producing, repairing and painting a canoe.

He develops the skill when he was much younger and now views it as a life -long line.

“I am currently gaining a better life with carpentry than with fishing,” he says.

As he admits that working as a carpenter is not regular, he believes that fishing has become “very difficult” because of the gas project.

BP insists that he is “engaged to work responsibly” with his partners and local communities.

While celebrating gas exports from the facility in April 2025, the Minister of Energy called for “continuous vigilance to guarantee the efficiency, transparency and sustainability of the economic benefits for the population”.

The government also welcomes the gas project like the one that strengthens the positioning of the country on the global energy scene, winning a vital currency.

Members of a local association representing craft fishermen in Saint-Louis say that BP has not fulfilled its promise to create artificial reefs to catch more fish.

These reefs had to serve as an alternative, given that access to the natural reef – known locally like Diattara – is limited.

“When they came in 2019, they told the people,” We will build you eight artificial reefs to replace at least our Diatara, “says Nala Diop, a spokesman for the Fishermen Association.

However, he says that for six years of “Nothing has been done.”

The BBC received documents from a study conducted by the Oceanographic Research Center of Senegal in Dakar-Tiarei (Crodt) showing that 12 potential sites were initially investigated to host artificial reefs. Six of them were identified as viable.

D -Mdu Tiab, a Crodt senior researcher, who was among those who led the study, says that only two of the BP sites have been identified and proposed later.

It describes the process of delivering artificial reef as “super slow”.

A statement BP said that between 2021 and 2023, the feasibility studies and the further assessment revealed that only two of the 12 RIF sites were “rated as a significant size reef that should be unleashed without the risk of immersion or shaking”.

“One of these sites was in Saint -Louis’s marine protected area (MPa) and was therefore not exposed, given that it would not provide immediate benefits to Fisherfolk by Saint -Louis,” the statement said.

BP says one of the selected site will host a significant reef complex that will include 10 reef clusters in it.

“The work is already underway and the reef is expected to be completed by the end of 2025,” BP says.

The company says that the environmental and social impact assessment approved in 2018 concluded that the loss of potential fishing grounds in Mauritania and Senegal as a result of the gas project would be “insignificant”.

Against the background of the back and back to the feasibility of artificial reefs, another point of discord is location.

Fishermen say BP plans to build an artificial reef just 4 km from the coastline, describing the position as unfavorable to attract fish.

BP, however, says the technical assessment concludes that the “cluster” of “riffs” pyramids at this place allows for more efficient management and protection of this reef.

The Senegalese government said that in February 2025 there was a leak of gas-recorded by BP as “gas bubbles”-one of the wells operated by giant oil and gas.

The incident caused fears about the safety of marine life around the facility.

Mamadou Ba, based in a Dakar ocean campaign with Greenpeace Africa, says gas leaks can have “immeasurable effects” on the environment.

“BP refuses to reveal the actual amount of gas leakage,” says G -n BA.

He says experts have found that such gas leakage has the potential to destroy the sea fauna and flora, reefs, algae and resources that allow fish to eat.

However, repeating the word used in the evaluation of the loss of fishing grounds, BP told the BBC that environmental impact was rated as “insignificant”.

“We acted quickly, restricted the well, and engaged in transparently with the regulators,” says the multinational.

In a joint statement on March 14, the Ministries of Senegal said that tests and observations revealed that there were no additional leaks after BP repaired the well.

“The satellite images made after the intervention did not reveal the presence of bubbles or condensate on the surface of the water,” the statement said as it expressed the commitment of both the Senegalese and the Moorish authorities to ensure the continuous management of the activities of the gas project.

But the expiration added to local concerns about the impact of the gas site.

Representatives of craft fishermen in Saint Louis say that the promise of economic prosperity through the project comes at a great price.

They say that this deprives them of free access to their very state sea, leaving them an uncertain future.

They also accuse the government of being on the way with BP to detriment.

“We only have a sea to live on,” says G -N Fall.

The Senegalese government did not respond to the BBC’s request for comment.

Additional reporting from Michel Mvondo