European Diary: Issiaga Daffé came to Brussels to plead for help. The chairman of the Guinean Union of Artisanal fishermen knows that his livelihood and those of his colleagues are under threat, as pirate fleets with scores of vessels fish illegally off the west African coast.
"What an industrial fishing boat can do in 24 hours we can't do in a whole year. You also see them throwing tonnes of unwanted fish off the boat," Daffé said. "There are now hundreds of trawlers which fish illegally at night in our waters."
A recent report published by the British government found that Guinea is losing more than 34,000 tonnes of fish every year to illegal fishing, worth an estimated $110 million. The illegal fleets, from Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Europe, catch fish that are sold in restaurants and shops all over the world.
The massive scale of illegal fishing is destroying fish stocks, making it difficult for local fishermen to feed their families. It also results in many deaths.
"This year 20 fishermen have died from collisions with trawlers and there have been many more accidents," says Daffé. "When you lose your boat and fishing gear you have to leave the fishing sector and do something else, such as agriculture." There is a familiar pattern to how the pirate fleets operate. At night they sail in close to the Guinea coastline and lay their nets. At 4-5am, they take in their catch and make a dash to the high seas to avoid detection. It is at this time that most collisions occur, as the trawlers don't use lights and are difficult to detect.
"At night it is not possible to patrol. Only sometimes during the day and we can only go to the continental shelf, not out the high seas because we don't have the right equipment or enough resources," says Mamayawa Sandouno, chief inspector at the Guinean Fisheries Ministry, who met EU officials last week to discuss a new report: "Party to the Plunder - Illegal fishing in Guinea and its links to the EU."
The report, prepared by the British lobby group Environmental Justice Foundation, says the illegal fishing fleets are facilitated and in some cases even subsidised by failures and loopholes in EU and national regulations and policies.
It highlights the cases of two vessels arrested by the Guinean authorities for illegal fishing in 2005. Both ships were captained by Italians, and one of the vessels is owned by an Italian company and until recently flew the Italian flag. EU records show that public funds were used to subsidise the transfer of one of the boats to Guinea from the Italian register last February 11th.
The report says this practice, whereby unscrupulous trawler owners transfer registration to "flags of convenience", is a key method pirates use to confuse authorities and make detection of illegal fishing vessels much more difficult.
The report claims that the Spanish port of Las Palmas in the Canaries, which was exposed by Greenpeace in 2001 as a hub for illegal fishing, still offers sanctuary to the pirates. It says it acts as an entry point to the EU for illegal fish and also allows pirates to refuel, servicing facilities and supplies. Once fish are landed in Las Palmas it is difficult to track the fish to their final market destination due to a lack of proper traceability, argues the report, which recommends tougher sanctions against pirates, more regional co-operation and renewed EU action to curb illegal fishing.
César Deben Alfonso, director of External Policy and Markets at the commission, rejects the claims that illegal fish are still being landed at Las Palmas, although he admits that the harbour may still be used to service pirate ships.
"We don't agree that you can put part of the problem with the EU," says Mr Alfonso. "We share the concern about the current situation in Guinea, but we feel nothing is being done by the states affected in west Africa, which largely suffer from corruption." EU concerns over corruption in Guinea are threatening the bloc's annual €2 million funding for fisheries projects in the state - used in part to provide two patrol boats for the coastal region. The commission wrote recently to the authorities warning that, unless better financial control measures are put in place, the EU would not supply any more money to Guinea.
For Mr Daffé the cessation of EU support will mean fewer patrols, and potentially the end of his industry.
"It is the fishermen who will suffer not the Guinean government," he says. "It is very important to keep the EU support for development of fisheries. Our lives depend on this; if there are no more fish there will be no more fishing communities in Guinea."