ABSTRACT

Since the 2000s, maritime security threats in the Gulf of Guinea region have been of growing international concern. In many countries, illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing is one such problem with negative impacts on environmental, food and national security and links with wider maritime crime. Focussing on Cameroon, this article argues that there has been a securitisation of the fisheries sector within the broader context of changes in maritime security governance in the Gulf of Guinea. The article examines the process and implications of the securitisation of Cameroon’s fisheries sector. Using documents, direct observations, and in-depth interviews with state agents and actors of civil society organisations (CSOs), the article illustrates how the fisheries sector was securitised through a range of linguistic, institutional, and structural mechanisms. The institutional and structural mechanisms were highly militarised with the increased deployment of military forces in monitoring, control and surveillance of fishery activities. These changes, the article concludes, subsequently diminished the agency and capacity of non-military state and civil society actors in fisheries governance and undermines their role in cooperative efforts within the broader maritime security architecture that now operates in Cameroon.

摘要

2000年代以来，几内亚湾地区海上安全威胁日益受到国际关注。在许多国家，非法、未报告和无管制的捕捞就是这样一个问题，对环境、粮食和国家安全产生负面影响，并与更广泛的海上犯罪有关。本文着眼于喀麦隆，认为在几内亚湾海事安全治理变化的更广泛背景下，渔业部门出现了证券化。本文考察了喀麦隆渔业部门证券化的过程和影响。本文使用文件、直接观察以及对国家代理人和民间社会组织 (CSO) 行为者的深入采访，说明了渔业部门如何通过一系列语言、制度、和结构机制。随着对渔业活动的监测、控制和监视方面军事力量的部署增加，体制和结构机制高度军事化。文章总结说，这些变化随后削弱了非军事国家和民间社会参与者在渔业治理中的机构和能力，并削弱了他们在目前在喀麦隆运作的更广泛的海上安全架构内的合作努力中的作用。