Doubly dispossessed by accumulation: Egyptian fishing communities between enclosed lakes and a rising sea

In a corner of the Egyptian revolutionary drama, the fisherfolk of the northern Nile Delta have begun to organise. They suffer an indicative predicament. The two great lagoons of Borullus and Manzala have largely been enclosed by fish farms as the Mubarak regime sought to expand Egypt's aquaculture industry. On the other hand, the sea is threatening to submerge the ground on which the very same fishing communities are based. How can we understand the pinch in which they find themselves? This article questions the sustainability of the Egyptian aquaculture miracle, examines the likely impacts of sea level rise on the communities north of Borullus and Manzala, and seeks to conceptualise the dialectic between the two processes. While the fisherfolk prepare to fight against the encroaching farms, however, there is little on the horizon in the way of struggle against the other, perhaps even more dangerous side of the squeeze.