Piracy in Somalia (2019) by Awet Tewelde Weldemichael: illegal fishing, ransom and counter-piracy

The book

Piracy in Somalia: Violence and Development in the Horn of Africa is by Awet Tewelde Weldemichael, a historian at Queen's University in Ontario who also holds a degree in international law and describes himself as a former refugee goatherd. Cambridge University Press published it in January 2019, with about 256 pages (Schweitzer Fachinformationen).

How it was researched

The book draws on more than 100 interviews, ten focus groups, observation and written sources gathered over six years (African Studies Review, 2020). The publisher describes it as centring the voices of people in coastal communities affected by illegal fishing, piracy and counter-piracy, as well as the networks of middlemen, negotiators and foreign fishing fleets involved (Schweitzer Fachinformationen).

What is in it

After an introduction on how Somali piracy has been located "in space and discourse", the chapters are (Schweitzer Fachinformationen):

1. Global root causes and local circumstances of early piracy in Somalia
2. From the troubles of Somali fisheries to the onset of predatory piracy
3. The spiralling of ransom piracy
4. Local consequences of and responses to piracy
5. International counter-piracy as a means and an end

The conclusion is titled "IUU fishing is back! When will piracy?", referring to illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.

Its argument

A common view held that the collapse of the Somali state caused piracy, and that rebuilding the state would end it. Weldemichael argues that the collapse of the state was a "second order" cause. If it had been the main cause, he reasons, piracy would have surged in the 1990s. Instead, after 1991 foreign illegal fishing and waste dumping grew in waters no Somali authority protected, with the help of at least a few Somali officials. Falling fish stocks and the poor treatment of Somali crew on foreign boats led some fishermen to form what he calls vigilante groups, which fined or attacked foreign vessels. Over time this turned into robbery and kidnapping for ransom (African Studies Review; Journal of African History).

He finds that much ransom money left Somalia or went into legitimate business, including property in the Eastleigh district of Nairobi. He finds little evidence of close ties between pirates and al-Shabaab beyond a "marriage of convenience" in which the group taxed pirates in areas it controlled, as it taxed others. He argues that the mainly naval international response left local fishermen caught in the crossfire without addressing the causes, and he calls for action against foreign illegal fishing and dumping, protection of marine resources and new jobs on the coast (African Studies Review). See Piracy off Somalia, Fishing and the sea and Al-Shabaab.

How it was received

Kris Inman, in African Studies Review, called it "a valuable contribution", but criticised it for not explaining how interviewees were chosen, what they were asked or how the material was analysed, which makes its conclusions harder to check (African Studies Review). It was also reviewed in the Journal of African History (Journal of African History).

Where to read it

It is sold in hardback, paperback and ebook by Cambridge University Press. Other books on this site about the same years are Captured at Sea by Jatin Dua and The Pirates of Somalia by Jay Bahadur.