At least 30 foreigners arrested for illegal fishing within the country’s territorial waters in the Indian Ocean were sentenced to pay fines.
According to the state-owned media, a court in Galkayo town fined 30 Yemeni fishermen to each of them pay $700.
Galmudug coastguard forces who conducted operations against illegal fishing along Hobyo-Harardhere coastal areas have arrested 39 Yemeni fishermen three days ago but 30 of them were put to trial as the eight others were to be under age.
Mid this month, the coastguards of Somalia’s northeastern state of Puntland had confiscated ten small fishing vessels and several Yemeni sailors following operations along Puntland coastal areas.
Maritime experts classify Somalia among the countries with the weakest maritime security in the world.
Lack of proper monitoring and control has allowed foreign industrial vessels to exploit Somali marine resources or operate under dubious licenses over the years.
Some local fishermen have gone missing while others are tortured by the trawlers by spraying boiling water.
Since the collapse of the Somali government in 1991, Somalis were struggling to protect its fishery resources but due to lack of strong marine forces, the illegal fishing went out of hand.
Foreign fishing corporations have taken advantage of the defunct forces of the region and have been fishing in the Somali’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) unhindered.
