Greenpeace Africa has accused the EU of exploiting Senegal's fishery resources while repatriating Senegalese migrants back to their lands. It said that the scarcity of marine assets is partly the cause of the despair of thousands of the country's young people.

The EU recently renewed a fishing agreement that grants access to the West African nation's EEZ for 28 purse seiners, 10 pole-and-liners, and five longliners. Under the protocol, they can catch 10,000 M/T of tuna annually. Greenpeace has called on authorities from both countries to address the real causes of the issue and find a sustainable solution rather than allowing the situation to worsen by signing the deal.

Seven tuna fishermen died in Somalian waters after their vessel was destroyed by cyclone Gati which brought with it the country’s strongest storm on record. The sailors were from Yemen and their bodies were found near the shipwreck. It was reported that they were asleep on their vessel when the squall hit on Sunday morning.

Cyclone Gati was initially a Category 2 hurricane with 105 mph (168 km) winds but reached Category 3 with winds of 115 mph (185 km).

There is still no consensus among ICCAT member states regarding the endangered shortfin mako sharks, which are bycatch of tuna longliners. In the second round of discussions, countries such as Canada, UK, Senegal, and Taiwan have backed a proposal that recommended an outright ban on the north Atlantic species --which have dangerously low numbers -- for stock recovery. However, the US and the EU refused to back this, saying it would not in itself stop mako bycatch mortality. ICCAT also advised the catch limit of 2,001 M/T for south Atlantic species will remain in place for 2021 and subsequent years until it is revised based on scientific advice.

Today, WWF strongly called for the adoption of an ambitious mitigation plan for mako sharks that aims at achieving a zero retention policy while introducing additional measures including safe handling and best practices for the release of live specimens and verification means as crucial tools to mitigate bycatch.