Abdellah Nouri has not been out to sea for two years. A fisherman from the Mediterranean town of Ghannouch in Tunisia’s coastal Gabès region, he was diagnosed with cancer in 2018. His condition and its treatment have left him housebound. 

Nouri has worked the surrounding waters since he was 17. He believes that his health problems are caused by pollution from a nearby industrial port. 

“The port has destroyed me, my health and my livelihood,” he said.

Sat on the floor in his living room, Nouri pointed in the direction of a large plant, operated by the state-run chemical company Groupe Chimique Tunisien (GCT). Dedicated to the processing of raw phosphate, its imposing chimneys belch fumes into the air and its drains discharge millions of tons of toxic black sludge into the sea every year.