The fishermen of Senegal blame the BP gas factory for decreasing for hanging on to Saint-Louis

Each day, Gora Fall, a fisherman in the north of the city of Senegal, Saint-Louis, heads for the sea with a mixture of emotions: hope and frustration.

He hopes he will get a better catch than the day before, but he is frustrated by the thought that everything he finds could not meet his needs.

“Before, we have worked to live, but now we are just working to survive,” said the 25 -year -old.

Like him, many other traditional small -scale fishermen in Saint -Louis – a major fishing center – are faced with difficult times.

The BBC has spoken to several fishermen and people related to fishing trade, all of which point to a cause – A liquefied natural gas platform that is on the maritime border between Senegal and Mauritania, off the coast of Saint-Louis.

The greater Ahmeyim gas project (GTA) is operated by the British oil and BP gas giant as part of a joint venture with Kosmos Energy, as well as Petrosen and SMH, the national oil companies of Senegal and Mauritania respectively.

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

Described as one of the deepest and most complex gases development schemes in Africa, the first phase of the offshore project of several billion dollars should produce around 2.3 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas per year for more than 20 years.

However, residents of Saint-Louis say that this also has restrictions on fishing on which 90% of the population of more than 250,000 people in the city rested for their life.

One Tuesday morning, with favorable declared weather conditions, Mr. Fall is preparing his wooden canoe painted with red, blue, yellow and other colors.

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

After missing 10 km (6.2 miles) offshore, the young fisherman approaches the installation of giant gas. But he says that he cannot get closer due to an exclusion zone of 500 m which restricts fishing.

“The authorities prohibit us from fishing in this area of ​​the platform, under the penalty of confiscation or even destruction of our fishing equipment if we access it,” Fall told BBC.

The fishermen say that the platform is built around a natural reef rich in fish – the restrictions mean that their catches are smaller and they barely earn their lives. This aggravated the difficulties they were already faced with competition for fish of large international trawlers.

“We are very frustrated,” explains Mr. Fall.

“Now we can stay until 4 pm that blur our thumbs, without fish.”

BP says that concerns about Senegalese fishing stocks prior to the gas project, indicating to the BBC in a press release: “The safety zones around infrastructure are a standard practice to protect people and assets.”

During a forum held in Saint-Louis in October 2024, the Minister of Energy of Senegal, Birame Souleye Diop, expressed the need to exploit oil and gas to coexist with fishing, which he described as essential to the local community.

Fishing represents nearly 60,000 direct jobs and more than half a million indirect jobs in Senegal, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). He could also use one in six people and represents approximately 3% of the country’s GDP.

The majority of those who work in the sector are on a small scale, traditional or “craft”, fishermen and transformers.

Treatment is traditionally carried out by women. But with the reduction in the number of fish in Saint-Louis, many lose their use.

Diamol Sène, who dries salted fish in the sun, says that some of the women who worked before him on a fish processing site are now unemployed.

“The fish has become too expensive, the transport costs are high. Today, we are just gaining enough to cover expenses,” said the 10 -year -old mother.

“If canoes could go out at sea and return with (abundant) caught, all women would return to the site to work,” she said.

The fishermen say that they earned between $ 445 and $ 625 (£ 330 and £ 465) from a single fishing trip, but nowadays they find it difficult to get $ 90.

Decrease profits push many fishermen, including Mr. Fall, to consider the abandonment of their secular practice, which is considered a tradition than a tradition than a profession.

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

“But if a job opportunity arises, we will seize it without hesitation.”

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

One of those who no longer fish are Saer Diop, 38 years old. Since 2021, the longtime fisherman also works as a carpenter – producing, repairing and painting canoes.

He developed skills when he was much younger and now sees him as a lifeline in the face of adversity.

“Currently, I earn better with carpentry than with fishing,” he said.

Although he admits that carpenter’s work is not regular, he believes that fishing has become “very difficult” because of the gas project.

BP insists that he is “determined to operate in a responsible manner” alongside his partners and his local communities.

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

The government has also welcomed the gas project as a project that strengthens the country’s positioning on the global energy scene, gaining vital currencies.

The members of a local association representing craft fishermen in Saint-Louis say that BP did not hold its promise to create artificial reefs where they could catch more fish.

These reefs were to serve as an alternative, since access to the natural reef – known locally as Diattara – is restricted.

“When they came in 2019, they said to people:” We are going to build you eight artificial reefs “to replace at least our Diattara”, explains Nalla Diop, spokesperson for the association of fishermen.

However, he says that six years on “nothing has been done”.

The BBC obtained documents from a study by the Dakar-Thiaroye Oceanographic Research Center (CRODT), showing that 12 potential sites were initially explored to host artificial reefs. Among these, six were identified as viable.

Dr Modou Thiaw, principal researcher at Crodt who was one of those who led the study, says that only two of the sites were identified and proposed by the COP.

He describes the delivery process of an artificial reef as “super slow”.

In a press release, BP stated between 2021 and 2023, feasibility studies and a more in -depth assessment revealed that only two of the 12 reef sites were “evaluated as possible for a substantial reef to deploy without risk of submersion or recovery”.

“One of these sites was in the protected marine zone (MPA) of Saint-Louis and was therefore not advanced, since it would not provide immediate advantages in Saint-Louis Fisherfolk,” added the press release.

BP says that the only chosen site will host a complex of substantial reefs which will include 10 reef clusters.

“The work is already underway and the reef should be completed by the end of 2025,” said BP.

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

As part of the back and forth on the feasibility of artificial reefs, another discord is the location.

The fishermen say that BP plans to build the artificial reef just 4 km from the coast, describing the position as unfavorable to attract fish.

However, BP says that a technical assessment has concluded that a “cluster” of “reef pyramids” at this place allows more effective management and protection of this reef.

The Senegalese government said there had been a gas leak in February 2025 – described by BP as “gas bubbles” – in one of the wells managed by the oil and gas giant.

The incident has raised concerns about the security of marine life around the establishment.

Mamadou Ba, an ocean activist based in Dakar at Greenpeace Africa, says that gas leaks could have “immeasurable effects” on the environment.

“BP refuses to disclose the real quantity of gas leak,” said Ba.

He said that experts found that such gas flight had the potential to destroy marine 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 field, BP told the BBC that the environmental impact had been assessed as “negligible”.

“We acted quickly, crowned the well and engaged in a transparent manner with regulators,” explains the multinational.

In a joint declaration of March 14, the Ministries of the Environment and Energy of Senegal said that the tests and observations carried out revealed that there were no other leaks after BP repaired the well.

“The satellite images, taken after the intervention, did not reveal the presence of bubbles or condensates on the surface of the water,” said the press release, while expressing the commitment of the Senegalese and Mauritanian authorities to ensure continuous improvement in the management of gas project activities “in order to minimize the occurrence of such incidents in the future”.

But the leak added to local concerns concerning the impact of the gas site.

The representatives of the artisanal fishermen of Saint-Louis say that the promise of economic prosperity through the project has a cost.

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

They also accuse the government of defending BP to their detriment.

“We only have the sea to live,” said Fall.

The Senegalese government has not responded to the request for comments from the BBC.

Additional report by Michel Mvondo