The
Food and Agriculture Organization has delivered 12 longline fishing
vessels to the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources in Somalia’s
northern autonomous State of Puntland.
The vessels were transferred under the European Union’s financed Coastal Communities Against Piracy (CCAP) program, designed to support the Horn of Africa country’s ongoing fisheries and aquaculture sector reforms.
The
CCAP is one of several projects intended to woo more young people and
small-scale fishers away from piracy by providing them an alternative
source of income through revival of the country’s commercial fishing
industry. The CCAP is also building capacity among the state’s fishers
through training that focuses value-chain activities such as
boat-building and seafood product handling, processing, and marketing.
“The
vessels are another contribution from the Coastal Communities Against
Piracy (CCAP) Project, generously funded by the European Union, which
works to develop a vibrant fisheries sector that harnesses the great
potential offered by Somalia’s coastline by providing decent employment
opportunities young people along the fisheries value chain,” FAO CCAP
Project Manager in Somalia John Purvis said.
Somalia’s coastline
has been synonymous with illegal fishing, frequent piracy, and a
thriving chaotic maritime system, though the problem has abated somewhat
since September 2012, when the country held indirect presidential
elections and a government formed in an attempt to end the more than 20
years of civil war.
FAO said the 12 vessels were deliberately
designed to be of the longline fishing model that is more sustainable.
Fishers can now more easily catch fish, maintain their quality, and gain
value for their catch with their effective deployment, it said.
Last year, the Federal Government of Somalia (South Somalia) issued offshore fishing licenses
for the exploitation of tuna and tuna-like species, a move made as part
of the country’s drive to encourage investments into its fishing
industry. Somalia’s fisheries remain underexploited despite Somalia
having the longest coastline along the Indian Ocean, primarily due to
their inaccessibility and the threat of piracy.
The offshore
fishing licensing bid attracted the interest of Chinese Offshore Fishing
Association, which is the only entity that submitted expression of
interest for the advertised fishing venture, which is to be carried out
beyond 24 nautical miles from Somalia’s coastline.
Photo courtesy of FAO
Source:https://www.seafoodsource.com/news/environment-sustainability/fao-delivers-fishing-vessels-in-somalia-as-sector-reforms-intensify
