Why did Somalis' turn to piracy?

Back in Dec. 2008 I wrote about the piracy problem in Somalia

The Somali Pirates are really getting bold.

I have a few theories why

They really (well, some of them) want to draw attention to the illegal fishing and dumping along their shores, which turned them to piracy.

I was alerted to the illegal dumping by someone who posted a comment on this blog.

After some research, I found this article, dated July 2008.

UNITED NATIONS - The UN special envoy for Somalia on Friday sounded the alarm about rampant illegal fishing and the dumping of toxic waste off the coast of the lawless African nation.

“Because there is no (effective) government, there is so much irregular fishing from European and Asian countries,” Ahmedou Ould Abdallah told reporters.

He said he had asked several international non-governmental organizations, including Global Witness, which works to break the links between natural resource exploitation, conflict, corruption, and human rights abuses worldwide, “to trace this illegal fishing, illegal dumping of waste.”

“It is a disaster off the Somali coast, a disaster (for) the Somali environment, the Somali population,” he added.

Allegations of waste dumping off Somalia by European companies have been heard for years, according to Somalia watchers. The problem was highlighted in the wake of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami when broken hazardous waste containers washed up on Somali shores.

Take the time to read the entire article. It's worth it.