Worldpress: A few years back, the image of the Somali pirates—locally as well as internationally—was one painted by some with a heroic narrative; an image of underdog villagers fighting for their survival and for the protection of their internationally recognized territorial waters. Today, these pirates are considered as an international menace and a serious security threat in the high seas. And, ironically, dealing with this threat might require something much simpler than the current costly cubicle approach. 

In 2005, these pirates were small seaside village fishermen whose livelihoods were severely damaged by illegal over-fishing and toxic waste dumping. They were the provoked fishermen who chased off the perpetrators. As a nation without a central government with broad authority, Somalia has arguably been the worst victim of over-fishing, and these pirates essentially became a volunteer coast guard providing services that the defunct Somali navy could not deliver.

International maritime marauders have been exploiting the Somali waters with impunity. They commission giant fishing vessels equipped with fish processing and packing, huge freezing capacity, and a fishing apparatus capable of sweeping massive schools of fish along with coral reefs, thus destroying what’s known as the rainforests of the sea as they sustain sea life. Meanwhile, marine ecologists and international environmental organizations such as Greenpeace continue to sound the alarm bells that over-fishing and the dumping of industrial toxic waste are the biggest threats facing the marine ecosystems today, as they can dangerously deplete sea life in that part of the world.

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