2 - Piracy and Fishers: Attacks on Small Craft in Southeast Asia and Bangladesh

Summary

Simply stated, some pirates may be sometimes fishermen, but not all fishermen are sometimes pirates.

Hon Richard D. Vine, Director, Bureau of Refugee Programs, U.S. Department of State

INTRODUCTION

Noni Gapal was born in 1964 in Chittagong district and from early childhood went out to sea on his family's fishing vessel. He learned the essential fishing skills from his father, but was unable to go to school to learn how to read and write. In 1989, Noni Gapal married a local girl and his family expanded, with his wife giving birth in rapid succession to two sons and a daughter. To support his family, Noni Gapal worked as a fisherman. He had received two Hilsha (Tenualosa ilisha) nets from his father and initially hired a boat to fish, but was shortly able to buy additional nets and a boat with money he borrowed from a fishing association. In April 2003, while fishing, Noni Gapal was attacked by pirates who stole his valuable nets and seriously injured him. To cover the costs of his medical treatment, and to support his family while he recovered from injury, Noni Gapal was forced to sell his fishing boat. Left without nets and boat, he now works as a day labourer, pulling rickshaws for a minimum wage. Noni Gapal still dreams about returning to the sea in his own boat with four fishing nets — once piracy is eradicated.

Noni Gapal's experiences show that pirate attacks on fishers can have very different consequences for a victim's life than comparable attacks on the crew of merchant vessels. In both cases, the attack itself can be extremely frightening and traumatic for the victims, but in attacks on fishing vessels, the victims often lose not only their catch, equipment, and/or boat, but also their source of livelihood. Furthermore, the victims of attacks on small craft such as fishing boats or yachts are invariably confronted by the perpetrators directly. Injuries and the killings of victims are, therefore, more common in these attacks.