Mayor of Bayla district Saeed Adan Ali said on Monday that there are two illegal fishing trawlers currently in Puntland waters, Garowe Online reports.
Mayor Saeed of Bayla, a coastal district in Karkaar region, said that there are two foreign trawlers illegally fishing just two nautical miles off of the coast of Bayla. “On Sunday night two foreign trawlers were in Bayla’s waters, these trawlers are committing serious damage to our coast and its people,” said Mayor Saeed.
According to Mayor Saeed, foreign trawlers have been entering the district’s waters for a long period time, which has had a serious impact on fishermen’s livelihoods in the region.
“Foreign trawlers have been operating in Puntland waters since the collapse of Siad Barre’s government, they not only illegally fish off our coast but they over-fish and destroy marine habitats, having a huge affect on our fishermen,” said Mayor Saeed.
Mayor Saeed stated that they were not capable of stopping the trawlers from illegally fishing, adding that the trawlers have come even closer to the coast when realizing that authorities were helpless.
Illegal fishing off of the coast of Somalia has been rampant since the collapse of the government in 1991. Illegal fishing vessels use drag nets, traps, and trawl nets to fish for the abundant array of seafood found in Somali waters like tuna, sardines and mackerel with special emphasis on lucrative catches like lobster and sharks. The illegal trawlers than throw any unwanted catches which by that time are dead or dying back into the ocean a termed called ‘by-catch’, which has a serious affect on marine habitats.
The trawlers and their trawl nets often destroy marine habitats because lucrative catches like lobster are found near the ocean floor. Trawling a method of fishing frowned upon because of its affect to marine life has grown in Somali waters with all but a few of the trawlers hailing from foreign countries some as far as South Korea, Japan and Spain and operating illegally in Somali waters.
According to a UN report on illegal fishing an estimated $300 million worth of seafood is stolen from Somali waters. Marine analysts say the figure is more than double that. Illegal fishing and toxic dumping which is another lucrative business, have plagued Somali waters since the collapse of the government. According to Peter Lehr editor of Violence of Sea: Piracy in the Age of Global Terrorism, the lucrative businesses of illegal fishing and toxic dumping off the coast of Somalia which has sprung some Somalis to join piracy, is partly due to the inaction of the international community. While speaking to Time he said, “The legacy of nearly twenty years of inaction and abuse, though, is far more costly.”
Garowe Online