Commercial catch of small fish banned

BY PMA RASHEED

The Gulf Today, 18 Jan 2010

The UAE Ministry of Environment and Water (MoEW) has banned commercial fishing and sale of small-sized fish stocks.

Dr Rashid Ahmad Bin Fahad, the Minister of Environment and Water, issued a ministerial decree on Sunday prohibiting the catching of fish that are smaller than the permitted size.

A spokesperson of the MoEW said the move comes based on the results of a joint scientific study on valuable fish varieties in the waters of the UAE, conducted by the environment ministry, the Abu Dhabi Environment Agency and the Secretariat of the Cooperation Council for the Arab Gulf states.

"The fisheries department will coordinate with the ministry and competent local authorities in each Emirate on the protection of small aquaculture species," he said.

"On the other hand, the ministry will set up a campaign to educate fishermen and fishermen's organisations to protect the small sizes of marine stocks. They will be given lessons on the lengths of local fish to be caught or traded," added the ministry official.