VIOLENCE AT SEA; Piracy in the age of global terrorism

EDITED BY PETER LEHR

This is a short book that covers various top­ics on piracy. Peter Lehr does an introduction titled; The New Pirate Wind. Here, he lays the foundation for piracy saying virtually all oceans of the world have had a long history of maritime policy. As he progresses further into the book, Lehr and Hendricks Lehman explain that for many Somalis especially, marine experts and coastal dwellers, cur­rent problem of piracy began when foreign fishing boats started invading the country’s fishing ground after fall of Somali govern­ment in early 1999. The two also go ahead and share examples of situations which are equivalent to trawlers taking part in illegal fishing in Somali waters.

They indicate that in 2002, there were re­ports of Somali local fishing community turned to ‘self defense.’ This followed reports that the country’s inshore fishing boats had been involved in armed clashes with an iden­tified foreign trawlers. They also point that then, the Somali fishermen reportedly en­gaged these illegal fishing boats equipped with illegal licenses with rifles and rock­et-propelled grenades. According to them, some of the foreign trawlers avenged in kind, with the use of firearms and in some cases, high pressured hoses which were used to capsize their smaller Somali competition.

Also captured in the publication are issues touching on piracy, the Transitional Federal Government, Somalia’s navy and maritime. They also go back in time and give back­ground information about Somali, its pop­ulation and its people’s economic activities.

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