there's pirates...and then there's pirates.
“Piracy began as a violent reaction to rampant illegal fishing by commercial fishing companies, mostly from European and Asian countries, according to U.N. officials, who say the fishermen often operate with fake licenses.
A Somali man who gave his name only as Ali said he became a pirate in 2004 after several confrontations with commercial fishing vessels operating in Somali waters.
“We used to put our nets at night in the sea and go back in the morning to see our catch, but we’d just see a big ship taking our nets out of the water,” said Ali, 25, now a shopkeeper in Nairobi.
When he and his colleagues steered their boat close to the vessel, he said, the crew sprayed them with hot water, and one of them fired bullets. Ali said his friend was injured, their boat was sunk and they had to swim to shore. ”
Let’s not forget that those illegal fishing vessels were trawlers, which create dead zones.
