Crew members from the Dutch super trawler Dirk Diederik lift on deck a floating device with text reading "Stop The Plunder." Greenpeace activists had earlier attached it to their nets, stopping its fishing operation 30 miles off the coast of Mauritania.

West African waters have been subject to overfishing for decades, the effects of which are being felt by local communities. 90% of the cost for fishing rights to huge trawlers that plunder West African waters is financed by EU tax money. The scientific community recognises that fishing capacity of many stocks must be reduced in order to ensure the long term sustainability of West Africa's marine resources. Greenpeace is campaigning in West Africa for the establishment of a sustainable, low impact fisheries policy that takes into account the needs and interests of small-scale fishermen and the local communities that depend on healthy oceans.