The Politics of Economic Development

Africa has considerable potential for developing its fishery resources. Some of the world's richest fishing grounds lie off the coasts of Mauritania, Angola, Morocco, Nigeria, and Senegal. At present, these fisheries are exploited mostly (sometimes almost exclusively) by foreign fishing fleets from Japan, South Korea, the USSR, and several European countries. Official statistics indicate that foreign fishing off West Africa accounted for 1.2 million metric tons in 1976, or roughly 2 percent of the total worldwide marine catch. A Senegalese official claimed (quite plausibly) that those figures were too conservative and that foreign fishing amounted to least three times the official foreign catch (United States Department of Commerce [hereafter USDOC], 1976). In response to this dependence on foreign fishing, several African countries are attempting to develop their own fishing fleets. Nigeria, in particular, has been rapidly expanding its fleet during the last decade (Marine Fisheries Review, 1982). The Organization of African Unity emphasized fisheries development in its 1980 Plan of Action (South, 1983a: 68). African nations are attempting to challenge the Foreign fishing companies' dominant position. As this paper will show, these efforts are likely to increase indigenous participation in the fishing industry. The issue of economic nationalism in the Third World has been widely discussed. It is frequently noted that Third World countries are now adopting aggressive policies toward foreign investors. Many countries require foreign investors to establish joint ventures in certain industries, to employ indigenous personnel, to share technology, and to construct local manufacturing and processing facilities. The long term significance of these trends has been more controversial. Several important studies (LaPalombara and Blank, 1979; Leys, 1978; Moran, 1974; Warren, 1973) have argued that economic dependence has diminished in much of the Third World as local capital has replaced, or at least complemented, foreign capital. Others (Hoogvelt, 1979; Joseph, 1978; Kaplinsky, 1980), adopting a more critical view, suggest that these gains are often overstated or illusory. This paper examines these issues with respect to the fishing industry in Mauritania, a West African country of approximately two million people. Fishing is already an important sector of Mauritania's economy, accounting for eight percent of the Gross Domestic Product in 1980 (Wohlers, 1980: 2), and the government has made a major effort to indigenize the industry-to increase the

Biology · Fishery · Fishing · Fishing industry · Political science · Politics · African studies and sociopolitical issues · Global Maritime and Colonial Histories · Law · Natural Resources and Economic Development

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