Dubai Municipality to control sale of Sheri, Safi fish for 2 months

Dubai - The fishermen, who catch these types of fish, should immediately release them in the sea with adequate attention to safety.

The Dubai Municipality has begun the regulation of fishing and marketing of Sheri and Safi fish, during the breeding season which lasts from March 1 to April 30 every year.
This comes as part of the keenness of the Dubai Municipality to implement the federal laws and regulations governing the exploitation of living marine resources and prevent their depletion.
"The fishermen, who catch these types of fish, should immediately release them in the sea with adequate attention to safety. The Decree also prohibits the selling of Sheri and Safi during this period, in all the fish shops and markets in the country, whether domestic or imported. It also prohibits the import and re-export of these fish whether fresh, frozen, dried, salted, smoked or canned or in any other form during the period stipulated in the Decree," he said.
Lootah stressed that the Dubai Municipality through all its working teams from the departments concerned have put this decision in mind and a plan has been prepared to control and inspect the markets and outlets selling these fish and their locations of landing in the Emirate of Dubai in order to tighten the implementation of the Decree.
"Awareness campaigns have been intensified for fishermen and fish sellers during the months of January and February this year to introduce them to the importance of the Decree in order to maintain the sustainability of the stocks of these two species of fish. The Decree is intended to protect Sheri and Safi as they are one of the most important local economic species, which are under threat of fishing during the breeding season and are facing depletion of large quantities of eggs, which leads to a lack of opportunity for these fish to restore the natural stocks," he said.
"Shops selling fresh fish in the shopping centers are also inspected. During inspections we try to ascertain the extent of the compliance by the fishermen and sellers to all rules and regulations regarding the protection and development of fish wealth, including the Ministerial Decree No. 501," said Al Harmoudi.
She stressed that since the beginning of 2018, the department, in cooperation with the concerned officials in the Assets Management and Food Safety departments have intensified inspection campaigns and control of markets and outlets selling fish to create awareness among the fishermen and sellers about the decree and explained its importance towards the sustainability of fish stocks for them and for the future generations.
"To educate them, a number of posters were distributed that showed the types of fish that are banned from being sold. Fishermen and fish sellers were also given booklets with guidelines on the Ministerial Decree No. 501 as well as the Ministerial Decree No. 580 of 2015, concerned with the prevention of fishing and marketing of small sizes of fish that measure less than the allowed limit. The booklets contain tips and guidelines for fishermen, vendors and public about the importance of the Ministerial Decrees, as well as images of the banned species and the allowable fish sizes. The booklet has been prepared in four languages, namely Arabic, English, Hindi and Chinese so as to ensure that the information reaches all sections targeted in the campaign," said Al Harmoudi.
Aisha Al Murr Al Muhairi, Head of Natural Resources Protection Section said that the inspection times will be during the embargo period in March and April to coincide with the timings of landing in ports and fish markets during the morning and evening periods.
"They will also be inspected over the weekend when the display of fish is more compared to the rest days the week," she said.
"As for the violators of the ban, the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment has decided the penalties for the offenders in accordance with the Cabinet Decision No. 18 of 2012. A monthly report will be submitted on the percentage of compliance of the establishments to the Ministry as it is the national focal point in this decision. Last year, the commitment of fishermen and vendors reached 100 per cent in the fish markets, shopping malls and fish landing sites in Dubai," said Al Muhairi.
"Dubai Municipality calls upon all fishermen, wholesalers, fish merchants and the public to ensure commitment to implement the Decree for it to regulate fishing and marketing of Sheri and Safi during their breeding season because the fisheries are a natural resource for us and for our future generation. We have to keep them, prevent their depletion and encourage programs and legislations for their sustainability," she said.
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• UAE