It is no hidden fact that climate change and environmental issues are a big deal, but who knew that it would have anything to do with Somali pirates? In 2010, NATO utilized an amount of roughly 2 billion dollars to preserve the integrity of the bustling international lanes off the Horn of Africa from Somali pirates. This amount of money spent does not account for the time and effort put into relocating support into this area of the sea. Oceans Beyond Piracy (OBP) states that piracy impedes shipments and costs them between $6.6-$6.9 billion every year. However, the pirates themselves are not the only culprit.The culmination of their environment being used and abused withered Somalia down and forced many of them into piracy. 

In 2009, there were some 217 attacks on ships, compared to the 111 attacks in 2008. The attacks shockingly doubled in the span of a year, but what is the reason? For nearly seven decades, the nascent fishing waters of Somalia have been invaded by foreign fishing vessels, often of which are illegal. Many vessels pose a physical threat to the Somalians, while some compete directly for the fish. According to Frontier, in 1981-2014, Somali waters were the main source for seventeen different commercial fish stocks, and the amount of fish caught increased by two-fold by 2000. These fishers have caught almost 2.4 million metric tons of fish within the past decades. One could say they blew the Somali competition out of the water. 

This unfortunate series of illegal and overfishing subsequently destroyed Somalia’s economy along the coast. Somalia is now ranked 154 out of 196 countries in the scale of GDP, and is classified as a developing nation by the UN. Many of the pirates are doing all of this to meet the bare minimum to survive. Although I do not support their ship pirating, I believe that this is not solely their fault and take the blame for it. I do believe, however, that these large commercial fishers that have fished in Somalian waters illegally should be held accountable and partake in donating and raising funds for Somali charities to help them along the way out of poverty. After all, it is the least they could do.