When Elephants Fight, the Grass Suffers: A Report on the Local Consequences of Piracy in Puntland

Abstract

An excerpt from the executive summary: Maritime piracy off the coast of Somalia subsided in 2012 as dramatically as it exploded in 2007. But it is too early to celebrate as t he domestic and foreign root causes, chief operators, and foot soldiers of piracy remain intact. These factors bode ill to long-term security of the nearby sea-lanes and hinterlands. In the absence of a government to deter it, Illegal, Unregulated, Unreported (IUU) fishing posed an existential threat to Somali artisanal fishing. That threat along with widespread claims of hazardous waste dumping became the root causes of piracy. As a result, Somali fishermen initially took to piracy as a legitimate means of defending their interests. Unscrupulous criminals took advantage of these impromptu community responses, introduced a lucrative business model, and aggressively recruited expert divers and able-bodied fishermen into a new trade of predatory ransom piracy. Based on research into the ground-level experiences and perspectives, this report broadly examines the root causes and dynamics of piracy off the Puntland region of Somalia before discussing the effects of ransom piracy in that region and the local counter-piracy responses.

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