Khan
Gone but not forgotten
- Joined
- Aug 23, 2006
- Messages
- 6,924
Things are rarely as simple as they seem at first glance:
Off the lawless coast of Somalia, questions of who is pirating who -- chicagotribune.com
"We have some of the richest fishing grounds in the world," said Gayre. "Scientists say it is like a rain forest of fish. But our fishermen can't compete with the foreigners in big ships who come to steal from our waters."
Somalia, like all maritime countries, has legal rights over an exclusive economic zone that extends 200 nautical miles to sea. And though it has no navy to enforce its control, it theoretically owns the fish and minerals in that area.
Many of Somalia's angry fishermen have picked up rifles and joined the pirate mafias that have seized more than two dozen vessels off the Somali coast so far this year, maritime security experts say.