
Who’s behind Sierra Leone’s illegal fishing problem?
From Business Daily by BBC World Service
June 7, 2026 · 17 min
About this episode
The episode explores the illegal fishing crisis in Sierra Leone and the government's response to it.
Each Monday, Ed Butler takes you around the globe to the heart of the stories and meeting those living through them. West Africa is currently the global epicentre for illegal fishing, according to the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation. An estimated 40% of the world's illegal industrial fishing occurs in its waters, costing the region up to 10 billion dollars a year in lost revenue, and severely depleting stocks essential for the food security and livelihoods of over 7 million people. Ed Butler has been hearing about the practice in Sierra Leone, trying to ascertain who is behind it, and finding out how much the government is doing to help. Presenter/producer: Ed Butler (Picture: Thomas Turay, Sierra Leone Artisinal Fishermens Union. Credit: BBC/Ed Butler) Our email address is businessdaily@bbc.co.uk
People in this episode
Host: Ed Butler
Topics covered
- illegal fishing
- Sierra Leone
- food security
- West Africa
- government action
Keywords
- illegal fishing
- Sierra Leone
- food security
- West Africa
- UN
- fishing industry
- government response
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation
Places: Sierra Leone, West Africa, Sierra Leone Artisinal Fishermens Union
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