Cabo Verde: Gulag of the South Atlantic: Racism, Fishing Prohibitions, and Famines

Abstract

[Off São Tiago Island, March 1456] We found so great a quantity of fish that it is incredible to record.[Praia, São Tiago, April 1816] The strictest precautions are taken against the evasion of slaves on board foreign vessels that touch here, and particularly by not allowing boats of any kind to the inhabitants, the want of which gives to the port the appearance of a deserted settlement.Numerous species of fish swim in Cabo Verdean waters, and the two streams of the Canary Current flowing past the archipelago nourish some of the richest marine resources on the globe. Yet, for centuries Portuguese colonial officials leagued with plantation owners to prohibit Cabo Verdeans from owning fishing craft and other vessels to prevent the escape of slaves, mutinous soldiers, exiled criminals, and political deportees. Denied the bounty of the sea and afflicted by multi-year droughts, tens of thousands of destitute people perished during famines. Cabo Verde during Portuguese rule was a gulag.