78 Bahraini violated fishing law last year
TDT | Manama
The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com
Bahrainis constituted the majority of fishermen accused of committing fishing rule violations in Bahrain last year, according to the Director of Maritime Control Department within the Agriculture and Marine Resources Division of the Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning Ministry.
“Necessary legal measures were taken against 78 Bahrainis and 41 expatriates for violating the fishing laws of the land,” said Khalid Al Shirawi.
Al Shirawi pointed out that legal action was taken for violating fishing regulations as well as the exploitation of marine wealth.
“Nearly 3.5 tonnes of illegal catch were seized by the teams affiliated with the department,” he said.
Out of the total 195 fishing violations found, 92 involved the selling of fingerlings, 52 were related to illegal shrimping and 25 cases were connected to the use of illegal fishing nets.
Al Shirawi highlighted the significance of preserving the Kingdom’s fish stocks, calling on both Bahraini and expatriate fishermen to co-operate with authorities concerned to avoid all possible fishing violations.
When contacted, Abdulla Al Moghanni, a representative of Bahrain Fishermen Society, declined to comment on the matter, stating the necessity to study in detail the violations.
New controls
Recently, Bahrain’s authorities issued a decision concerning the setting of new controls for transferring fishing licences from one person to another, mainly to the second-degree relatives of the licensee.
According to the new regulations, a person transferring the fishing licence must meet the conditions following the provisions of the Bahrain Fishing, Exploitation and Protection Law.
“The licence to be transferred has to be valid and the licensee should not have committed any fishing violations that had been referred to the Public Prosecution, local courts or any other official body.”
The new decision also instructs that the marine fishing licence could be only transferred to another person if it is proven that the licensee is unable to carry out fishing owing to physical or mental disabilities and a medical certificate approved by competent medical authorities has to be produced in this regard.
The licensee can also transfer the fishing licence if the person is over 60 years of age.
The latest instruction also includes the permission to transfer the fishing licence in the event of the death of the licensee to one of the heirs who meet the conditions for obtaining the licence and this requires special approval from the Maritime Control Department.
Related Posts