As this is our last production update from Cape Verde and West Africa, we would like to share a discovery with you which we made during our stay in Mindelo, on the island of Sao Vicente. We decided to not go public with our progress because we needed to investigate something that has been proved to be a legal mess allowing unregulated and destructive fishing practices.

The European Union has an agreement with Cape Verde to fish highly migratory species, namely tuna. But Spanish and Portuguese vessels actually target sharks because of the high value of their fins on the Asian markets. This is done at the fringes of what is legal but it's having dramatic consequences on the local population. It is not illegal because the agreements are unclear and can be interpreted in various ways. But what we know for sure is that this practice goes against the foundation of the agreement, where it is stated that European fishing vessels should work sustainably and not have an impact on resources targeted by locals.

Sharks are top predators and removing them has effects on the entire food chain in the area. Smaller fish that would prefer to be in the open ocean stay close to shore to find refuge from the sharks. Those smaller species that have disappeared mysteriously are what locals have caught for centuries. The pressure created by sharks is now so weak that fish which used to shelter by shore now freely roam the open ocean. Local fishermen can't reach their target species unless they go far out with their little boats (which can have lethal consequences) and shoals are now in reach of international vessels, which can vacuum them up without having to take the risk of fishing them illegally within the 12 mile exclusion zone.

In 2009 the port of Mindelo saw 1400 tons of shark and shark fins. In the following year transshipment of shark products had more than doubled to 3200 tons, and by 2011 this reached 12.000 tons. These numbers are an indication of how worrying the whole situation is but don't represent the entire scale because much fishing remains unreported.

Here you can see the photo gallery for a glimpse of what we filmed during that week of investigation.

Mindelo is a quaint touristic city, with colonial architecture and beautiful beaches by the promenade. To be honest we had hoped to spend a few days there relaxing by the sea, but in the end the stories we found were so intense, and what we discovered about foreign fishing in Cape Verde was so stunning that we barely managed to stop, although we did manage to get a little rest at the end.
The 4 Sundays ahead of carnival see a celebration with the exhibition of a group, like the one of the Mandingas, and the city becomes alive with the rhythm of samba. An explosion of energy featuring man in black, the whole gay community and abundance of grog which gives a yellow tint to the eyes.
In Mindelo we also met Kiso, our Cape Verdian supporter and flight controller. He has been extremely welcoming and joined us for an unforgettable dive into the Cape Verdean culture at the Esplanada Hollanda, a bar where Cesaria Évora used to perform before she became famous, in exchange for a couple of glasses of grog.

After a long sleepless night at the airport, spent working with the wonderful free wifi there, we arrived at Mindelo on the island of Sao Vicente, part of the northern Barlavento archipelago.
We rented a flat (bartered to a great price by Francesca from our landlord Artur), and spent another intense 10 days there.
Mindelo is a strategic point for international fisheries: thanks to geological formations the port is the biggest and most active in all of CapeVerde.
We made several interviews with fisheries engineers, marine biologists and the CEO of the port's node for international and national fisheries. José ended his stay with us in Cape Verde and left for Gothenburg in Sweden. We spent only three weeks with him and it felt like three months!