European Colonialism in the 21st Century

Late in 2006, it was announced that, given the current fishing practices, eating fish would become an impossibility by 2050. I don't like fish (I'm weird that way), but the environmental effects of these practices and their tragic consequences are undeniable.

However, this article shows that the practice of mass-fishing has more than just environmental effects. Many coastal Africans are no longer able to make their living as fishers, as the fishing populations have plummeted due to European companies over-fishing the areas. In response, they seek to immigrate to Europe, where they are not welcomed, even as the Europeans eat the Africans' livelihood.

As the article points out, having fished-out their own waters, the Europeans are now turning towards Africa, leading not just to an acceleration in the environmental degradation of the area in terms of fish populations, but to what can be called no less than a continuation of the colonialist practices Europe employed for centuries in Africa. Having none of their own "material resources" (in this case, fish, instead of diamonds, ivory, slave labor, minerals, etc.), they turn to Africa, violating UN agreements without repercussions to their own industries and practices. Meanwhile, the Africans are driven to desperation, yet cannot gain access to the continent that is stealing from them.

Obviously, the environmental implications of these practices are distressing, to put it mildly. But the fact that they affect everyday Africans so severely and so immediately should not and cannot be overlooked. I really don't know how to stop the Europeans and their companies in this way. Suggesting they stop eating fish, while ideal, is about as realistic as telling the Japanese to cool it with the sushi. The UN treaties obviously have no effect, as there is no way to punish the Europeans for violating them. The African nations have neither the unified political strength nor the geopolitical presence of the EU. Unless some unforeseeable miracle happens, the Africans will continue to be exploited and screwed in their home countries and shut out from all attempts to make a better life in Europe, and there will still be no fish by 2050. Colonialism didn't die after the end of WWII. It just took on a strictly economic face in the guise of "globalization". And the fish will continue to disappear.