“Communists Stealing Fish from Poor Mauritanians”: The Polish People’s Republic’s Fishing Policies in the “Third World” – The Case of Mauritania, 1960-1980

Abstract

This article discusses the fishing activities of the Polish People’s Republic in relation to the north-west African state of Mauritania from 1960 to 1980. Poland tried to exploit fishing opportunities in decolonizing and decolonized spaces to expand the reach of its fleet, acquire resources, and provide domestic employment. From the beginning of the Polish fishing industry’s expansion into the waters of north-west Africa in the 1960s, it had a choice: either respect the maritime sovereignty of coastal states or disregard it in the search of higher yield. Using reports found in the Archive of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (AMSZ) and those contained in the Central Archive of Modern Records (AAN), this article seeks to reconstruct Polish fishing activities off the coast of Mauritania from 1960 to 1980. It argues that Poland, despite being part of the socialist camp, which in its public diplomacy emphasized its support for decolonizing and decolonized states, was primarily interested in its own economic interests – even if securing them involved illegal activities. In this way, the article adds to the growing body of literature that problematizes the Eastern Bloc’s interactions with the “Third World” as it decolonized.