Environmental Research and Wildlife Development Agency (Erwda) yesterday advised manufacturers of fishing traps, locally known as garageer, to obtain permission from competent authorities to produce them.
This comes under a regulation announced in March to control 'ghost' fishing catching and throwing away fish that are too small. The regulation, issued in a decree by Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Erwda's Deputy Chairman, will come into force from September 13 in Abu Dhabi.
Garageer (singular - gargour) will replace all the plastic traps and nets considered to be dangerous for the marine environment. The new trap, licensed under the rule, has been specifically designed to allow juvenile marine species to escape. It will be implemented under the supervision of Marine Environmental Research Centre (Merc) at Erwda in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries.
All garageer must have a panel inserted to prevent ghost fishing and enable small fish to escape as per approved specifications. The panel size should be 50 X 40cm with a square mesh of 7.6 X 5.6cm diagonally. These specifications have been determined by scientific studies.
A public awareness campaign has already been launched to help implement the rule which aims at educating fishermen on the trap's proper use. "The agency will provide tags to fishermen, giving a specific identity number, details about the fishing boat and its owner," an Erwda statement said. The agency warned offenders will be fined under Article 23 of Federal Law No 23 of 1999 regarding the exploitation, conservation and development of aquatic resources of the UAE, and punished as stipulated in Article 52.
The decree stipulates: "Manufacturers shall undertake fabricating of garageer only after receiving a written permission from the competent authority. "
The agency also advised fishermen to get permission from it to procure garageer. The agency's experts, before the net's designing, will check specifications and standards of garageer by manufacturers to ensure their compliance with the rule.
The rule allows use of the traps only on licensed wooden dhows locally known as 'lansh' and use from any other platform is unlawful. It applies to all fishing vessels operating in the waters of Abu Dhabi, including those licensed in other emirates.
The agency advised that a buoy must be moored and prominently displayed above the deployed trap on the water's surface. In case of a lost trap, fishermen are required to report the loss within a week giving details about the exact location where they lost it.
They should also obtain a written permission of the competent authority to procure a new gargour after verification of their claim.
DOS AND DON'TS
New rule from September 13- Manufacturing of fishing traps, locally known as garageer (singular - gargour) is to be regulated to control ghost fishing
- The panel size should be 50 X 40cm with a square mesh of 7.6 X 5.6cm diagonally.
Prohibited
- Use of pop-up buoys- Retrieval of garageer by grapple type hooks or anchor- Deployment without allotted tag- Deliberate removal or tampering with the tags from a gargour prior to abandoning it- Use of tags allotted to another fisherman- Being in possession of, or handling garageer at sea (on board fishing boat) without a tag- Attempting to efface or modify the number embossed onto the tag- Attaching a previously sealed tag to another gargour- Deployment of garageer in protected or restricted areas as specified by law - Deployment of garageer in navigation channels or where they could impede passage of vessels- Deliberately discarding any gargour or piece thereof into the aquatic environment or abandoning garageer along the coast.
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