Whose Dinner Becomes Fish Feed?

On a May morning in 2017, the people of Gunjur in The Gambia woke to find their lagoon had turned red, with dead fish on the surface. Investigators traced the pollution to a fishmeal plant up the road. In this episode, Andrew Lewin follows the feed from West African beaches to farmed salmon fillets in Europe and North America, building on The Outlaw Ocean Project's five-year investigation into the fishmeal industry.

Small, oily fish like sardinella and bonga are everyday protein in Senegal and The Gambia. Fishmeal plants buy them in unlimited volumes, outbid the women who have smoked and sold fish on the beach for generations, and ship the oil north to feed salmon. Andrew walks through what that means for families who struggle to put three meals on the table, for communities living beside the plants, and for fishers who risk the Atlantic crossing to the Canary Islands when the fish run out.

Communities are fighting back. Abéné in southern Senegal got its plant suspended within three months of opening, and major salmon feed buyers say they have stopped sourcing from the region. Andrew closes with one action that takes two minutes: email the brand behind the farmed salmon or shrimp you buy and ask where its feed comes from.

Takeaways

• Fishmeal and fish oil link West African food security to farmed salmon sold around the world
• Fishmeal plants outbid local women processors, driving up fish prices and pushing them out of work
• Plant wastewater and stench affect millions of people who live nearby
• Collapsing fish stocks are one of several factors pushing people onto the deadly Atlantic route to the Canary Islands
• Abéné, Senegal, used protests, petitions and a community vote to suspend a plant within three months
• Mowi and Skretting say they stopped sourcing West African fish oil in 2023
• One email asking your seafood brand whether its feed contains West African fishmeal or fish oil adds pressure for change

Links:

• The Outlaw Ocean Project (main site): https://theoutlawocean.com/
• Food for Feed investigation (fishmeal series): https://foodforfeed.theoutlawocean.com/
• Gambia reporting: https://foodforfeed.theoutlawocean.com/reporting/gambia
• Mauritania reporting: https://foodforfeed.theoutlawocean.com/reporting/mauritania
• Outlaw Ocean Substack: https://theoutlawocean.substack.com/

Support Independent Podcasts: https://www.speakupforblue.com/patreon

Need help with your ocean non-profit, company, or project? Get the help you need with Pisces Oceans Inc.: https://www.piscesoceans.ca Connect with Speak Up For Blue Website: https://bit.ly/3fOF3Wf Instagram: https://bit.ly/3rIaJSG TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@speakupforblue Twitter: https://bit.ly/3rHZxpc YouTube: www.speakupforblue.com/youtube