Rethinking Maritime Sovereignty: How Senegal’s Fisheries Governance Transforms Data, Market, and Resource Allocation in West Africa

Senegal’s maritime frontier stands as a pivotal site for reimagining fisheries governance, especially as globalization, market integration, and ecological pressures converge within the nation’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). This essay explores the evolution of Senegal’s approach to fisheries sovereignty, shifting from a strictly legal framework to a nuanced model of geo-economic statecraft. Drawing on key developments from 2024, including the release of vessel lists, European Union interventions, and regional scientific assessments of small pelagic stocks, this analysis demonstrates that authority at sea is established through effective information management, strategic market engagement, and deliberate resource allocation. The implications extend beyond Senegal, offering insight into the changing landscape of maritime governance across West Africa.

Introduction

Traditional scholarship on maritime sovereignty has often assumed that legal jurisdiction guarantees effective authority. States with recognized rights over their EEZs are expected to control extraction, allocation, and conservation. Senegal’s recent experience, however, highlights the limitations of this view. As coastal fisheries face increasing threats from overfishing, international market dynamics, and large-scale industrial processing, governance must move beyond formal legal structures. Instead, sovereignty is shaped and contested through three interrelated domains: transparent data, credible compliance systems, and rational allocation under resource scarcity.

From Juridical Control to Geo-Economic Statehood 

The transition from juridical control to geo-economic statehood represents a significant theoretical advancement in fisheries governance. While juridical control is based on national rights established by international law, Senegal’s case reveals how these rights can be weakened by fragmented oversight, unclear ownership, and the pressures of global markets. Geo-economic statehood, in contrast, is characterized by a nation’s ability to influence resource extraction and distribution within globally connected markets. This approach relies on three pillars: data sovereignty, market sovereignty, and allocation sovereignty.

Achieving data sovereignty means making the operations of fishing fleets, licensing procedures, and ownership structures transparent, not just for government agencies, but also for the public and international partners. Market sovereignty acknowledges that access to global trade depends on meeting strict standards for traceability and oversight, often established by influential external bodies like the European Union. Allocation sovereignty focuses on distributing fisheries resources in ways that support social stability, food security, and the livelihoods of artisanal communities. These forms of sovereignty interact, fundamentally reshaping how authority is exercised at sea.

Case Studies in Sovereignty Production

Data Sovereignty: Institutionalizing Transparency and Accountability 

Senegal’s publication of its authorized fishing vessel list in May 2024 marked a turning point from legal declarations to practical authority. Praised by civil society and international observers, the vessel list advances data sovereignty by documenting vessels and disclosing beneficial ownership, contracts, and licensing terms. Making these details public addresses the opaque corporate structures that have previously hindered effective regulation and enforcement. This reform has significant scientific and political impact. It improves monitoring by ensuring information flow among government, civil society, and international partners, and strengthens institutional checks against corruption and rent-seeking. The vessel list’s importance is heightened by the rise of illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, which exploits loopholes in ownership and flagging. Publishing this data not only enhances national accountability but also bolsters Senegal’s credibility in global fisheries governance.

Market Sovereignty: External Pressure as Leverage for Reform 

Senegal’s assertion of market sovereignty is evident in its relationship with the European Union. In May 2024, the European Commission issued a warning over gaps in monitoring, control, and traceability. This “yellow card” is a clear example of how market actors use compliance expectations to influence coastal states. Rather than simply submitting to external discipline, Senegal responded by strengthening traceability and inspection systems, transforming compliance into a strategic asset. These improvements in monitoring, control, and surveillance (MCS) are now tools for negotiation with global partners, not just requirements dictated by outside forces. Sovereignty, in this context, is a dynamic balance between domestic initiative and international standards.

The decision not to renew the EU–Senegal fisheries protocol in November 2024 further highlights this geo-economic approach. Sovereignty is increasingly negotiated through compliance with external standards, with market access and national revenue at stake. Senegal’s response shows that coastal states can turn external pressure into opportunities for reform, strengthening their role in global resource management. The non-renewal of the EU–Senegal fisheries protocol in November 2024 further underscores the geo-economic logic at play. The episode illustrates that sovereignty is increasingly negotiated through compliance with external standards, with market access and national revenues hanging in the balance. Senegal’s response to market sovereignty pressures reveals the potential for coastal states to convert disciplinary regimes into opportunities for strategic reform, thereby strengthening their position in global resource governance.

Allocation Sovereignty: Scientific Justification and Social Consequences 

The allocation of resources is most clearly seen in Senegal’s small pelagics sector, which faces ecological, social, and economic pressures. The 2024 FAO assessment for small pelagic fish in Northwest Africa provided a scientific foundation for rebuilding key stocks like sardinella and bonga, confirming their severe overexploitation and raising the urgency of wise resource distribution. Effective allocation requires policies that prioritize domestic food security and artisanal livelihoods, supported by regionally coordinated rebuilding efforts. The growth of fishmeal and fish oil plants for export has increased competition with domestic food systems, threatening nutrition and employment. Civil society organizations have called for a halt to new fishmeal plants and more transparent joint ventures. Policy coherence is essential, ensuring that licenses, protected areas, and industrial processing align with scientific rebuilding goals, rather than being fragmented. Weak allocation policies have serious social consequences; as governance falters, migration to Europe increases, making resource scarcity and policy failure drivers of social instability. The choices made in resource allocation are thus central to social justice, national stability, and regional cooperation.

Fisheries Crime Governance: Intelligence and Networked Enforcement 

Sovereignty is further solidified when fisheries crime governance shifts from sporadic patrols to intelligence-led enforcement throughout the value chain. In November 2024, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) partnered with the Sub-Regional Fisheries Commission in Dakar to promote data sharing and coordinated action against fisheries-related crimes. This strategy treats the fisheries sector as a complex network involving documentation, ownership, ports, and trade channels, rather than just a matter of at-sea enforcement. Adopting value-chain intelligence acknowledges that illegal fishing and related crimes are rooted in intricate networks of actors and transactions. Effective governance demands investment in information systems, interagency collaboration, and cross-border partnerships. By viewing enforcement as a networked process, Senegal enhances its ability to address both domestic and international challenges, reinforcing its sovereign legitimacy.

Durable Sovereignty through Legibility, Negotiation, and Allocation 

The evidence is clear: Senegal’s fisheries sovereignty is most robust when transparency ensures legibility, compliance systems strengthen negotiation, and small pelagics are managed as a cornerstone of national economic policy rather than mere commodities for export. This model is grounded in proactive information management, active market negotiation, and thoughtful resource allocation. Senegal’s developments since 2024 show that sovereignty in the EEZ is earned through data transparency, credible compliance, and purposeful resource distribution. The vessel list publication marks a move toward public accountability. The EU’s warning and protocol non-renewal highlight the influence of market sovereignty. The CECAF assessment and its social implications stress the importance of explicit allocation decisions. Fisheries governance emerges as a defining aspect of statehood along West Africa’s maritime frontier. Reform succeeds by making fleets and rights transparent, traceability reliable, and allocation choices clear, enforceable, and socially responsible.

Methods and Data

This analysis uses qualitative process tracing and document review, drawing on official government releases, international agency reports, and scientific fisheries stock assessments. Vessel list data, European Commission warnings, and regional stock assessments are compared with interviews and statements from civil society, regulatory agencies, and industry leaders. Theoretical insights from geo-economic statehood and maritime governance support the argument. The study examines how data management, market negotiation, and allocation strategies interact within broader social and ecological contexts. By combining official documents, scientific reports, and stakeholder perspectives, the study captures the diverse actors, interests, and mechanisms shaping fisheries governance in Senegal. It situates Senegal’s experience within larger debates about sovereignty, legitimacy, and resource management in West Africa.

Theoretical Contribution

This theory of geo-economic statehood extends prevailing models of resource governance by emphasizing the constructed and negotiated nature of maritime sovereignty. It argues that effective fisheries governance requires states to build systems for transparency, credibility, and allocation systems that interact with external market pressures and regional coordination. This perspective moves past static jurisdictional models, highlighting the dynamic, networked, and contested processes that produce sovereignty. Geo-economic statehood offers new directions for studying natural resource governance, market integration, and state formation, calling for interdisciplinary research and renewed focus on the agency of coastal states in shaping global resource regimes.

Conclusion

Senegal’s evolving fisheries governance shows that sovereignty in the EEZ is built through the interplay of information, credibility, and allocation. The reforms of 2024 establish a new foundation: transparency, compliance, and allocation are the pillars of geo-economic statehood. For Senegal and West Africa, fisheries governance is not merely resource management, it is the construction of resilient, legitimate, and sovereign states at sea. As market pressures, ecological challenges, and social change intensify, Senegal’s experience will help shape the future of maritime sovereignty across the region. Scientific assessments, capacity-building, and intelligence-led enforcement offer promising paths forward. Ultimately, it is through deliberate transparency, negotiation, and allocation that maritime sovereignty will endure and thrive in the years ahead.