The illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing in Kuwait: Problems and solutions

Abstract

Kuwait is a country with an emerging economy that could benefit hugely from investment in its marine fisheries production.However, the country is constrained by several problems which affect the health of its coastal fish stocks. Illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing is the most serious of these problems because it reduces fish stock levels. In this study, we analyze IUU fishing in Kuwaiti waters, and assess its impact on fish stock levels and consequent damage to the marine economy and environment, as well as its implications for the security system and the integrity of governance in the country. The research methods used in this study include key informant interviews, information obtained from some illegal fishers themselves, documentary data collected from Kuwaiti public authorities, and peer-reviewed literature. . The main finding of the study is that IUU fishing in Kuwaiti waters not only threatens the health of the country's marine fish biomass but raises questions about Kuwait's immigration policy, the effectiveness of its border controls, and the way its decision-making processes are manipulated by groups who influence decision-making and large private companies which break fishing

Marine Pollution in Kuwait and Its Impacts on Fish-Stock Decline in Kuwaiti Waters: Reviewing the Kuwaiti Government's Policies and Practices

“…Fish stocks are declining in Kuwait, and the suggestion is that the main causes are overfishing, especially by illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) vessels, and pollution. We have dealt with overfishing elsewhere (Alqattan et al, 2020): this paper is about pollution. We should note, however, that both overfishing and pollution are immediate or proximate causes, and behind both lie deeper causes within the system of natural resource management in the country.…”

“…All of the fishers stated that they needed to travel to furtheraway locations in the high seas for those fish species because they can no longer find them near the coast because of the pollution. However, Alqattan et al (2020) showed that the abovementioned areas are being heavily fished by illegal fishing vessels, so pollution may not be the sole reason for the fish migration.…”

Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing in Indonesia: Problems and Solutions

“…Unregulated Fishing refers to fishing activities carried out in areas where no applicable management measures exist." [4][5][6][7]. Figure 1 shows the common forms of IUU fishing.…”

“…IUU fishing can cause loss of economic revenue, environmental damage, and economic loss for coastal communities, and also it reduces fish stock levels [1,4,6,8,12]. IUU fishing also prevents governments and resource managers to gain the full economic rent from fisheries and disturbs the marine ecosystem sustainability [13].…”

Identifying the Blue Economy Global Epistemic Community

“…It is important to emphasize that a nation's strategic vision in the implementation of the Blue Economy must integrate coastal organizations to advance the sustainable management of marine ecosystems and resources [18], environmental concerns, habitat destruction, water pollution, eutrophication, biotic depletion, ecological effects, and disease outbreaks make it essential to incorporate new regulations. Stronger legislation that includes guidelines on the Blue Economy in the field of sustainable economic development could avoid socio-ecological conflicts with the population [16,[35][36][37][38].…”