Somalia will revoke fishing licenses for foreign vessels following numerous complaints by local fishermen who said they were being forced out by foreign-owned vessels. Somalia is now planning a new law to regulate fishing in its waters.
"I do sympathise with the fishermen and we are working on a new law to regulate the activities of these foreign ships," the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Fisheres and Marine Resources, Abdirahman Ibbi told IRIN.
The head of the local fishing cooperative, Abdullahi Sheikh Hassan said that fishing was the only thing they knew and without it the fishing community had nothing. He added that Somali fishermen were being intimidated by foreign-owned ships.
"[Foreign-owned ships] are not only taking our fish, but they are also stopping us from fishing," said one fisherman. Another said that they were forced to stay within sight of the towns and had to avoid going far. This meant that their catches were smaller.
Somalia has been torn apart by civil war for nearly 20 years now. The country has no functioning central government and finds it difficult to enforce fishing regulations on foreign vessels.