In West Africa, where about 7 mn people depend directly on fishing as a source of income, this access is increasingly hindered by industrial fleets which, often illegally, target areas that are otherwise reserved for small-scale fishers and their communities. Illegal fishing is worth US$2.3 bn in the waters of six of the seven countries constituting the sub-region of northwest Africa (Mauritania, Senegal, The Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Guinea and Sierra Leone), accounting for up to 20 per cent of the global loss from illegal fishing. It has been estimated that over 300,000 jobs were lost to illegal fishing in the region. Studies have found that poverty is increasingly affecting fishing communities which are responding in various ways to the impacts of illegal fishing and declining fish stocks.