For Senegalese fishermen, Eid al-Adha is now a source of anguish, not a joyful occasion

THIAROYE-SUR-MER, Senegal — The upcoming holiday of Eid al-Adha should have been a joyful occasion for millions of Muslims in Senegal. “It’s been a week that I haven’t found anything in the sea,” said Diouf, sitting in a house he shares with multiple family members and some animals. These days, fishing communities struggle to make ends meet, with many choosing to use pirogues, their wooden fishing boats, to try to reach Europe through a route so dangerous that it’s been dubbed “Barcelona or die.” In Thiaroye-sur-Mer, everyone knows someone who lost a loved one to the sea. But this year, Ndao said, “the number of people that can afford to celebrate Tabaski in the traditional way is lower.” The prices are high, he said, and “with the change of regime, there is a wait-and-see attitude at the economic level.” Senegal’s new government, led by President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, was sworn in earlier this year on a pledge to improve the living standards of ordinary Senegalese. “These big fishing boats come and take all the fish, they vacuum them up,” said Ababacar Diop, 33, another fisherman.