Fishermen have reported a drop in the amount of fish and shrimp caught this past season, a drop experts say was caused by human activity. Pollution, midwater trawling and dredging, a process in which bottom-dwelling species such as crabs and clams are caught in a net, have upset local ecosystems, leading to a decline in marine life by up to 70 percent in some areas, Alsharq Arabic daily reported.
Hassan Saeed, a member of the agriculture committee in the Saudi Council of Chambers, said the drop has been significant and cited the example of Oman for taking bold steps to protect marine life.
Shrimp and fish are related in terms of price. If we have a superfluous amount of fish and shrimp the prices go down but if we don’t, prices will increase. The Kingdom must take steps to protect fish. Oman has banned midwater trawling in order to protect fish. The efforts have paid off because Omani fishermen sell fish in the Saudi market, he said.
Marine life in many parts of the Red Sea is at risk unless action is taken. Industries pump large amounts of waste into the sea, destroying marine life in the process, and dredging is further damaging habitats and coral reefs where many species reside.
Many Gulf countries have taken steps to reverse the damage human activity has caused. Qatar and Kuwait, for example, arrest fishermen found to be breaking fishing laws.
In the Kingdom, fishermen are rarely punished for breaking the law. On Tarut Island, which is located close to Qatif, there is a ban on fishing between the months of May and July to allow fish to populate and move into other areas. Once the fish move deeper into the ocean, fishermen dredge the ocean until fish numbers are decimated.
Dawood Saeed, also a member of the agriculture committee, said over 60 percent of marine life off Tarut Island has been destroyed along with that of Ras Al-Zour and Mineifah. Many of the fishes that are in demand in the Gulf reside in these coastal areas. The only area that still has a good amount of fish is Safwa coast, he said.
Saeed said in order to maintain marine life, rules must be enforced and anyone who breaks them punished. Demolition of the coast must stop, midwater trawling should be banned or only allowed during certain periods of the year and fishermen should be punished for their crass actions, he added.
Over 4,000 boats in the Arabian Gulf use seine nets to catch fish. A seine net can be of anything from 10 to 1,200 meters in length and visually looks similar to a standard anglers landing net. They are weighted at the bottom with counteracting floats at the top resulting in a net wall within the water. In many cases, fishermen simply dump damaged nets into the ocean nets which hundreds of marine animals get caught in every year and drown.
Saeed said he spoke to the head of Fish Resources Affairs in Qatif 20 years ago and suggested fishermen not be sold new seine nets until they return previous ones. He claimed the law was implemented for 6 months but then forgotten.
Awareness
Saeed said many people are ignorant about environmental health and sustainability. He believes if people were aware of the importance of environmental health, many of the current problems would not exist.
Unfortunately we are surrounded by businessmen who only see profits and money and not sustainability and environmental harmony, which plays a great role in our ecosystem. We are still witnessing the demolition of coastal area. Most recently, Fardat Mutab in Dammam, which occupied a width of 7 km and a length of 5 km, was demolished, he said.
Jaber Mohammad Al-Shehry, an official at the Ministry of Agriculture and Fish Resources Affairs, said between 65,000 and 70,000 tons of fish are caught from the Red Sea and the Arabian Gulf every year. Fishermen found to be breaking the law are caught by the Border Guards. The Ministry of Agriculture then determines the appropriate punishment. If repeated violations occur, a fisherman can have his license revoked.