As this was my first visit to Senegal, the purpose of my visit was to get to know some Senegalese colleagues and to get a first overview about an issue which currently interests me: the privatization of or institutionalization in the marine realm. Theory predicts the more scarcity increases and the more economic activities take place in the marine realm (blue growth) the more property rights and often private property rights are established. This might be also the case in Senegal. Think for example about the formal and informal regulations of fishing for Senegalese fishers in Mauritania, which restricts access to the fishing resource, or think about the starting gas exploration at the greater Tortue gas field, which grants exclusive access and exploration rights and necessarily creates certain space restrictions for other users, mainly artisanal fishers. One particular form of privatization is the privatization of governance. In Senegal certain fish stocks, can be managed by private consortia, presenting a reasonable plan to the state. What is the reason for this form of privatization? Is it a change in discourses, how we believe the environment should be governed? Is it a huge increase in the need for governance, which states often can't provide, a kind of state failure, where private actors "supply" governance better?