Japan's most famous tuna buyer says he turned Somali pirates into fishermen
japaninsides.com
japaninsides.com
It'd be nice if the article linked to the sources. There's very little substance in this article.
Maybe read the first paragraph
>> Illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing by foreign fishing vessels in Somali waters has been problematic for decades .
>> The central government collapsed in 1991, and the ensuing increase in foreign fishing became a justification for piracy against fishing vessels.
(https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/marine-science/articles...)
Other areas of the world have had similar responses to foreign commercial fishing:
>> In Southeast Asia, as competition for fish and other maritime resources intensified following the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997-1998, increases in industrial fish catch volumes by foreign fleets led to sharp increases in South China Sea pirate attacks organized by residents of villages reliant on small-scale fisheries
(https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal...)
>> Piracy is a growing concern in Sierra Leone, particularly in the northern maritime areas. Foreign trawlers have been attacked and robbed of both their catch and personal effects. Most of the pirates are reported to be from Guinea.
(https://wikileaks.jcvignoli.com/cable_09FREETOWN258)
However, there is evidence that piracy is more likely to exist in places where illegal fishing has declined. (With the disclaimer that "this research does not refute the earlier-held notion that foreign trawlers produce dissatisfied local fishers who turn towards piracy as a defense against foreign intruders."
(https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S096262982...)
However, Somali pirates attack pretty much anyone, even those not disrespecting their sovereignty, which is less cool.
Ughhh I hear this like 5x a day now. It's the new emdashery.
Much more commonly, the statement is used by writers who want to wax poetic without actually having to commit to any meaningful position on the topic at hand... which is exactly how the AI-written article in question uses it.
At the time, Somalia was extremely dangerous and under strict travel restrictions.
Therefore, he established a base in Djibouti, which was relatively safe and hosted a Japan Self-Defense Forces base.
He then invited former pirates and fishermen from the surrounding areas to that location.
In reality, his approach was to provide indirect support through fishing equipment and technical training.
He came to deeply empathize with them after learning that the pirates were not vicious criminals, but “former fishermen who, due to civil war and poverty, had no choice but to risk their lives as pirates just to survive.”
Driven by his innate “profound kindness that won’t let him ignore people in distress” and his “overwhelming drive to take action—even donning a bulletproof vest himself to enter dangerous areas”—he engaged in direct dialogue with the pirate leaders and provided them with tuna fishing techniques and boats as a means of survival.
It was not just his own self-interest, but a down-to-earth love for humanity—a desire for “everyone involved to be happy”—and an incredibly positive outlook that led him to believe “the problem can be solved by changing the system,” even in situations where anyone else would have given up.
These qualities gave rise to this miraculous initiative.