Conservation Efforts Bring Big Boost to Sustainable Fisheries

Measures taken by the authorities of the United Arab Emirates’ capital Abu Dhabi to recover the fish stock have proven to be effective since the percentage of sustainably caught fish has increased considerably over the last three years.

“The measures taken will contribute to enabling fish stocks to recover on the long run, allowing at least 70% of our fisheries’ resources to recover sustainably by 2030,” says Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed, Ruler’s Representative in Al Dhafra Region and chairman of the Environment Agency.

Sustainable fisheries went from 8.9% in 2018 to 62.3% in 2021, due to measures put in place to recover mature stocks. Those measures include a ban on gargoor nets — a traditional fishing cage — and on encircling nets, the establishment of marine reserves, and the implementation of seasonal fishing bans. That way, threatened species like hammour, sheri, and farsh have fewer chances of being overfished. “We must preserve the fishing heritage passed on from our ancestors for our future generations so that they can enjoy the goodness of our land and our cultural and natural heritage.”