I had no idea the "pirates" operating in the Gulf Of Aden are out of work fishermen

[NNN0LHI]

Some guy who sounded like he knew what he was talking about on MSNBC said that about ten years ago the big European commercial trawlers took over the fishing off the coast of Somalia and put them all out of work. So they got guns and went into a different line of business.

Never heard that before.

Don

[hatrack]

1. It was going on even back in 1991-93, when the famine was ongoing

EU fleets appeared off the Somali coast and promptly vacuumed up as much as their holds would carry while Somalia was paralyzed by lack of food, fuel and capital.

Invisible Hand-job and all that . . .

[baldguy]

2. Victims of globalization.

[malaise]

3. Fishermen everywhere are being kicked out of work

Here the hotels are destroying their villages and assuming they'll work as barmen and cleaners even though they've been fishing all their lives. Some of their fathers and grandfathers had been fishing for 100 years. Fuck globalization - and I won't even discuss the environmental consequences of these hotels littering our beach fronts.

I did laugh when I heard about this massive ship being seized by pirates in Africa. Pirates used to seize the poor Africans. History can be hilarious.

add

[shadowknows69]

15. It does have an ironic flavor to it

[navarth]

4. yeah that was an eye opener wasn't it??

One man's pirate is another man's...what? Fisherman who's had his livelihood stolen by global corporations. I'm feeling sympathetic to these so-called pirates.

[Double T]

5. With an increase in unemployment in the US, 'pirating' sounds like a great new opportunity.

East coast, west coast, Gulf of Mexico, Hawaii, Alaska and the Great Lakes would provide ample territory for any wannabes. Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of Merlot!!!

[Inexpensive Wino]

6. And they are damned good at it, eh?

Knocking off a $100 mil cargo.

Can you imagine them pulling this off in Vegas?

Wino

[Bobbieo]

7. Yes, they are amazingly damn good at it!!! I still do not understand how those guys can overtake a

huge ship and get away with it.

[Inexpensive Wino]

8. It is easy

Those radars, on those tankers, only register large blips (to avoid open-water collisions).

Smaller craft can approach with no alarm.

There is a minimal crew, un-armed.

They are easily overtaken.

Wino

[NNN0LHI]

13. And they wait until it is night time before boarding

[THUNDER HANDS]

16. maybe they were the Oceans 11 of fishermen

[Strelnikov_]

9. Somali Pirates Tell Their Side: They Want Only Money

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/01/world/africa/01pirates.html?_r=1&ref=world

The piracy industry started about 10 to 15 years ago, Somali officials said, as a response to illegal fishing. Somalia’s central government imploded in 1991, casting the country into chaos. With no patrols along the shoreline, Somalia’s tuna-rich waters were soon plundered by commercial fishing fleets from around the world. Somali fishermen armed themselves and turned into vigilantes by confronting illegal fishing boats and demanding that they pay a tax.

“From there, they got greedy,” said Mohamed Osman Aden, a Somali diplomat in Kenya. “They starting attacking everyone.”

By the early 2000s, many of the fishermen had traded in their nets for machine guns and were hijacking any vessel they could catch: sailboat, oil tanker, United Nations-chartered food ship.

“It’s true that the pirates started to defend the fishing business,” Mr. Mohamed said. “And illegal fishing is a real problem for us. But this does not justify these boys to now act like guardians. They are criminals. The world must help us crack down on them.”

[bridgit]

10. Avast! - 'teach a man to fish & he'll always have something to eat' overboard!!

[tularetom]

11. We spend a trillion bucks in Iraq and accomplish jack shit

but ten guys in a rowboat can successfully steal a huge oil tanker. Perhaps there is a cheaper way for us to get our hands on middle eastern oil than trying to take over a country that hates our fuckin guts. Maybe we ought to cut a deal with these pirates and let them steal the oil for us. They're much more efficient at it than we are.

[Joe Fields]

12. So what? I've been thrown out of work before, and I didn't become a pirate.

[shadowknows69]

14. I saw that, that was an interesting report

He kind of sounded sympathetic to them to an extent, which is why I think he did his little disclaimer at the beginning.