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Monday 8 April 2013

Toughest Place to Be a Fisherman - the return

Cornish fisherman Andy Giles gave up his state of the art trawler for two weeks to travel to the coast of Sierra Leone, where the fishing is done from a dugout canoe. Now he is returning to see what has happened to a fishing community whose survival was under threat from the illegal trawlers which took their fish, damaged their nets and even sunk their canoes. 

The transformation Andy finds is extraordinary: since the original programme was broadcast Sierra Leone was given a new fisheries patrol vessel, donated by the Isle of Man. The government and a British NGO have combined to almost eradicate the scourge of illegal fishing, transforming the lives of local fishermen. For Andy it is an emotional return to the village of mud huts and the two cousins with whom he formed such a bond.

See the programme on BBN2 iPlayer