It is fact the Yemen’s fisheries sector increasingly has contributed to its food supplies and security, with an estimated 70 percent of fresh and canned fish caught annually going for domestic consumption. The fishing industry ahs also provided more than 315,000 jobs in 2004, compared to only 100,000 in 1990.
But presently Yemen is facing the fishing pirates along the Yemeni coasts of the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea are wasted, destroyed and looted, thus jeopardizing the country’s fisheries. As per the available information there are 60 active multinational fishing vessels, some of which are unlicensed, are operating in Yemeni waters. These fish pirates often use explosives to force fish outside their habitats.
It was in 1996 when the Yemeni government decided to allow Arab and foreign firms to operate in its waters for a fee. But it did not include those fishing firms in deeper waters around 200 metres. The government now keen to conserve and protect its marine environment. And for this Yemen’s Ministry of Fishery Resources introduced a satellite monitoring control system in 2003 to control and monitor the activity of unlicensed commercial fishing boats.
The government also keen to establish an accurate state-of-the-art system for marine inspection and control the illegal fishing in its territories. There are other measures which include prohibiting any acts that damage marine ecology within the economic zone, including dumping garbage, discharging oil, detonating explosives, dredging seabeds, etc.
