Funds for fishermen sought

Manama

Parliamentarians yesterday approved a proposal to apply new rules that regulate fishing professions and utilising marine resources in Bahrain.

The proposal was submitted by the Council’s Public Utilities and Environment Committee during yesterday’s Parliament weekly session, chaired by the council’s Speaker Ahmed Al Mulla.

During the session, committee head Jamal Dawood demanded to promptly refer the proposal to the Government for approval, as it has an immense impact on Bahraini professional fishermen’s lives and the protection of marine environment.

The committee’s proposal included several recommendations such as reaching to an agreement with fellow GCC countries to allow local fishermen to fish in their regional waters.

Commenting on this point, MP Ali Al Ateesh said, “It is a shame that Bahraini fishermen are imprisoned by neighbouring countries’ security authorities for trespassing into their regional waters,” referring to the repeated arrests of Bahraini fishermen by the Qatari authorities, which released few Bahrainis last week for the same reason. 

According to Dawood, the recommendations also highlighted many of the repeated complaints of Bahrainis who depend on fishing for living. It stipulated that permitting procedures and fishing and shrimping ban periods should be reconsidered.

“How could we demand them to pay permits’ fees all year, while we deprive them off their only source of income for months. The committees’ recommendations also instruct to establish a special fund that is dedicated to serve fishermen’s needs,” Dawood opined.

Within the points mentioned in the proposal was providing social insurance to Bahraini fishermen. It also included few recommendations to enhance marine environment protection.

Dawood said, “Investigations during the past few months confirmed that BD10 million of local fish harvest is annually exported to Arab countries and East Asian countries. Where are these large amounts of money going. Why is the one kilogramme of Bahraini fish sold to an approximate BD1 in regional markets, while this price is exceeded by far in local markets? Bahrain is a small island with limited sea space. We must act fast o protect our natural resources.”

Sharing a similar opinion, representative of Hoora and Gudaibiya, MP Adel Al Assomy,  commented, “We don’t have sufficient livestock or agricultural wealth in Bahrain. Marine resources have been our main assets and base of food security since centuries. We must act fast and protect our assets.”

Despite the recommendations of Shura and Parliament Councils Affairs Minister Ghanim Fadhl Al Buainain and few MPs to delay voting on the proposal and reconsider some of the articles mentioned in it, as they seemed “contradictory”, majority of MPs voted for the proposal, which will be soon referred to the Government for studying and approval, considering its urge