Crackdown on fishermen over fish deaths

The government has intensified efforts to crack down on fishermen for illegal practices that have led to a large number of dead fish washing up on the beaches of Muscat.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MOAF) said its marine control team has been taking action against a number of fishermen.

“They (fishermen) have been conducting activities without proper licence and throwing fish on the beach in the Qurm area. We have intensified our inspections,” it said in a statement.

The ministry said the violators will be referred to the Public Prosecution for legal action.

Fishermen have been accused of using a fishing net called ‘seine’, which hangs vertically in water with its bottom edge held down by weights and its top edge buoyed by floats.

These nets can be deployed from the shore as a beach seine, or from a boat.

‘Illegal methods’ employed by fishermen are to blame for fish deaths in Seeb coastline, the ministry said last week. A large number of dead fish were found on the shores in Seeb and Qurm.

In a statement, the ministry said the fishermen looking for a specific species of fish dump the ‘unwanted fish’ caught by them on shores.

Such practices, it said, are in contravention of the laws of fishing. It has issued regulations for the use of fishing nets under ministerial decision No 245/2016.

The ministry has urged all fishermen to refrain from wrongful and illegal practices and to preserve marine resources.

It said some reports had linked the fish deaths to natural factors such as the red tide phenomenon or marine pollution.