Kuwait City – The Kuwait Fishermen Union denied any connection with a video circulating online and showing coastguards chasing amateur fishermen.
“The violators are a group of boat owners who were fishing illegally”, it said in a statement, adding that it has warned many times against the dangers of the actions that owners of such boats are committing, in continuous violations that affect fish stocks.
The statement said the union is keen on safeguarding marine environment and expressed satisfaction about what authorities are doing against violators, adding that the union informs fishermen to comply with Amiri decree 46/1980, which aims towards sustained growth and production.
The Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR) had warned in a statement released last June that illegal fishing had grave consequences on biological diversity and sustainability of fish stocks.
According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing activities are responsible for the loss of 11-26 million tons of fish each year, which is estimated to have an economic value of $10-23 billion.
فيديو / مواطن يوثق مشاجرة بين مفتشي الثروة السمكية وبعض الصيادين . pic.twitter.com/NTwQQeBF93
— المجلس (@Almajlliss) August 18, 2018