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The Documentary Podcast

Fishrot: Clear waters, murky dealings

The Documentary Podcast

BBC

Society & Culture, Documentary, Personal Journals

4.32.6K Ratings

🗓️ 21 February 2023

⏱️ 28 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Two countries a world apart are linked by a multi-million dollar corruption scandal, and it is all about fish. At one end, the southern African nation of Namibia where leading politicians and businessmen are facing trial on racketeering charges, accused of running an elaborate scheme that squandered valuable fish stocks, meant to help people out of poverty. On the other a powerful fishing company under scrutiny in Iceland, a country long credited with the image of transparency and honest dealing.

Transcript

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0:00.0

Hi, I'm Nambulantakombo and I'm excited to tell you that my award-winning

0:05.7

podcast Dear Dota returns on the 27th February for a brand new season. Dear

0:11.6

Dota is the podcast from the BBC World Service full of personal insight and

0:16.3

thought for letters of advice. It's a handbook to life for daughters everywhere.

0:21.1

So if you haven't already, catch up with the first season now while you're

0:26.1

waiting for season two. Search for Dear Dota wherever you get your BBC podcast.

0:38.4

A coast of Namibia is truly spectacular. In front of me, the cold waters of the

0:44.4

South Atlantic are stretching to the horizon. The waves are rolling in. Behind me,

0:49.8

the famous dunes of the Namib desert are rising into a clear blue sky. And the

0:55.4

water here is really special too because the Banguela current makes it one of the

0:59.8

richest fishing grounds in the world. The abundance of fish should make for a

1:06.0

good news story. Instead, it's given rise to the biggest corruption case in

1:10.6

Namibia's history, widely known as fish rot. And it's a case involving one of

1:16.4

the largest companies in a country 10,000 kilometres north, Iceland. This

1:21.9

scandal is getting wall to wall coverage, bringing down powerful politicians and

1:26.6

provoking outrage.

1:28.9

So we must unite against people who are stealing from us in our future generations.

1:39.9

After independence in 1990, Namibia set out to reclaim the riches of its shores,

1:46.9

which had been exploited for decades by other nations. Millions of tons of

1:52.0

valuable hake and horsemackerel had been pulled from the ocean, with foreign

1:56.8

companies plundering the profits and depleting Namibia's resources. The bold

2:02.1

idea was for Namibians to claim their share of the spoils and develop their

...

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