International migration of refugee family fisheries under the effect of coastal erosion and maritime submersion in Saint-Louis (Senegal)

Abstract

This paper examines the ecological and environmental determinants of international migration and internal displacement of artisanal fishers in Saint-Louis, Senegal. The results obtained support the idea that climate change, by inducing warming, ocean acidification and disruption of the reproductive cycles of fish species, has contributed to the scarcity of these species and the impoverishment of artisanal fishermen in Saint-Louis. To adapt and without abandoning the traditional fishing activity, some fishermen emigrate to neighboring countries such as Mauritania and Gambia where they hope for a more profitable fishery, while others, displaced to resettlement sites such as Djougop because of coastal erosion, opt for illegal emigration to Spain despite the Covid-19 pandemic that is raging in the world. If this option does not scare the artisanal fisherman who is used to long sea crossings, it makes sense in the quest for a home and a socio-professional «comfort» torn by the nibbling swells