Garowe (PP Information Desk) — The Puntland Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Sources yesterday publicised measures to fight unlawful fishing. In a decree signed by Abdirizak Abdullahi Haga, the Fisheries Minister, coastal regional and district authorities had been instructed to implement the brand new coverage geared toward combating unlawful fishing and home fishing practices that hurt sea life and the marine surroundings.
The decree banned fishing for turtles, gulper sharks and fish of their reproductive cycle. It additionally prohibited the removing and exportation of coral reefs, the chopping of mangroves for business functions, the usage of highly effective flashlights that hurt fish, the widespread use of plastic fishing nets and fishing nets with mesh sizes smaller than 50mm.
“It’s deplorable that some individuals from coastal areas in Puntland strike offers with international trawlers to obtain a paltry 5% of the income created from fishing, oblivious to the chance to marine life and the surroundings,” mentioned the Minister, who briefed the media on the brand new ministerial coverage. His remarks have added stress on the Puntland President, whose administration is searching for methods to adjust to the directions from the Somalia Monetary Governance Committee to declare revenues from fishing licences awarded to international firms on behalf of the Puntland State of Somalia. The implementation of the brand new coverage faces hurdles, given the absence of auditing practices to carry line ministry officers accountable for fishing licences awarded with out notifying Puntland’s Auditor Common’s Workplace.
In June 2022, the Puntland Parliament discovered that “fishing agreements have resulted in unlawful fishing and the depletion of fish in Somali seas. Authorities that concern fishing licences don’t have any mechanisms to find out if grantees have violated the phrases of the settlement.”
© Puntland Submit, 2024
