The New Boats
The New Boats is an investigative documentary that presents an eye-opening look at the impact of international industrialized fishing in West African waters and its disastrous effect on local communities at a critical point in Sierra Leone's history.
The film presents two years in the life of Tombo, a once-thriving fishing village in Sierra Leone. The village of Tombo is one of the largest artisanal fishing ports in Sierra Leone - providing nearly 90% of the protein eaten in the country. Tombo had flourished in the Freetown Peninsula since pre-colonial times but in recent decades this prosperity has been on the decline due to an influx of Asian trawlers overfishing on its shores with clandestine support from corrupt officials.
As a result, local fishermen of all ages are frequently forced to abandon life in Tombo and migrate in search of work. The women of the village have also lost their traditional livelihood, processing the catch and selling at market.
Sulaiman Kamara and other local fishermen are passionately advocating on behalf of Tombo, in a desperate attempt to prevent an environmental disaster with West African fisheries on the brink of collapse.
Most of the information about what is happening in Sierra Leone is regarded as only anecdotal. Local fisherman see this with their own eyes every day, but without pictures and hard evidence, it has been hard to gain leverage with local government or foreign press. In addition to the release of the film, our team is training local fisherman to be effective in their community surveillance efforts. We are providing cameras and strategic feedback about how to collect impactful evidence.
Director
Barmmy Boy Mansaray
Producer(s)
Arthur Pratt (FREETOWN MEDIA CENTRE), Banker White (WeOwnTV), Don Edkins (STEPS), and Tiny Mungwe (STEPS)
The New Boats is a co-production between WeOwnTV, The Freetown Media Centre, and STEPS with support from the Generation Africa program.