The 5,500km coastline of West Africa is home to some of the most diverse and dangerous fishing in the world. Skills are handed down from generation to generation, with fishermen putting their lives at risk every time they leave the shore. Two Kinds of Water exposes the extreme challenges faced by fishermen in Senegal, Africa as they fight to bring food to peoples’ plates in a time of climate change, over fishing and contested waters.
The story which has now launched on Waterbear, a platform that focuses on global issues, is told from the perspective of fisherman, Ishmaila Mbaye and his wife Koumba–a couple fighting to stay afloat in one of Africa’s most vulnerable fishing communities.
Due to over-fishing from larger trawlers and depleted stocks of the sardines that were their staple catch, the local fishermen must now travel further into the North Atlantic for octopus. Just five kilometers from shore, all reception is lost so they must rely on GPS, a compass and experience to navigate their way in boats whose engines struggle with the longer journeys. The weather has worsened in recent years and the winds are particularly dangerous, threatening to capsize the small, open-hulled vessels at any minute.
A Lloyd’s Register Foundation Film.
Dir: Dan Mcdougal
English subtitles
