Libyan fishers lament foreign trawling
Limiting bottom trawling for deep-water shrimp off Libya’s coast could help rebuild ecosystems on which local fishers rely The post Libyan fishers lament foreign trawling appeared first on Dialogue Earth .
Faraj Abdelsadiq, a 46-year-old traditional fisherman from Al Khoms, has seen his fishing income plummet over the past two decades. He claims fish stocks have declined dramatically while foreign trawlers operating in deeper waters leave minimal resources for local fishers. Despite decades of experience at sea, Faraj's earnings now rarely exceed 300 Libyan dinars per trip (USD 50), down from 1,000-2,000 dinars (USD 156-312).
Over 3,500 Libyan fishing vessels, mostly small boats under 12 meters, operate within a 2,000-kilometer coastline. The majority of these fishers work within 12 nautical miles of the coast, using simple nets, lines and traps to catch species like red mullet, sea bream and grouper. Depths below 800 meters do not typically fall within their usual fishing grounds.
However, their catch remains threatened by industrial bottom-trawling activities in the Mediterranean. The practice of trawling at such depths requires larger vessels with specialized equipment, which small-scale fishers cannot afford. This has led to concerns about the depletion of fish stocks and damage to seabed habitats that support local fishing grounds.
Libya has a long history of overfishing, and in 2011, despite political instability and weak enforcement by Libyan authorities, foreign trawlers began operating in Libyan waters. In response, conservation groups have called for stricter monitoring and enforcement of fishing regulations in Libyan waters, as well as expanded protection measures to safeguard deep-sea ecosystems.
Written by urgent.news from Dialogue Earth's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
