February 18, 2006: Although most of the world thinks ill of the piracy that has been taking place off the Somali coast, apparently back home in Somalia, it's not perceived as all that bad. Naturally, of course, it brings in money, at least for the people involved in pirate gangs, which seems to include at least some of the local warlords and clan leaders.
But Piracy also benefits people who have no ties to it. Somali fishermen reportedly have been able to improve their catches as a result of piracy in the waters off the Horn of Africa. The lack of a government in Somalia has meant that there is no navy or coast guard to patrol the country's "Exclusive Economic Zone." As a result, foreign fishing fleets have been illegally working Somali waters for some time, often employing illegal technologies to seriously deplete the fish stocks. With the increase in piracy, the foreign fishing boats have mostly been scared off, which leaves more fish for the Somali fishermen. Apparently the pirates usually don't bother the Somali fishermen, perhaps because of clan ties, because they're just too poor to rob, or they've made a deal to give the local pirates a portion of the catch.
So in a twisted sort of way, the pirates actually are serving the function of a "coast guard," at least as far as Somali fishermen are concerned.
