81 around US 300 million per year, and the fact that most locally caught fish is also not recorded,
any presumptions about under-exploited stocks must be viewed with suspicion. For instance, if we look at reported daily landings by Puntland fishermen of 119kgday, extrapolate to an
annual catch based on a reported 142 days fishing per year and multiply by the estimated 6,500 fishermen in Puntland according to FAO, this translates to 110,000 MT of fish caught annually
just in Puntland. This is more than the usually quoted figure fish landed in the whole of Somalia. There is reason to believe that under reporting of local landings is quite high. This is a challenge
to most developing nations and particularly to countries like Somalia that have extensive coastlines and a large number of small-scale landing sites. FAO provides recommendations on
how to address this problem with various statistical sampling frames mentioned earlier in this report.
Our survey shows that fishermen believe that there are still plenty of fish in the sea but also that there are too many local and international fishermen chasing them. More than half say
that catches and income from fishing have declined. These qualitative indicators suggest that the local fishing industry may already be declining. This study was not able to clarify whether
these trends were an allocation issue – as local perceptions suggest foreign IUU fishing has been increasing – or down to declining fisheries infrastructure that stops fish being moved to
market beyond local communities andor stops fishing vessels and engines from being operational. Years of conflict hampered the maintenance of vital infrastructure.
6.3 At-Sea Transfers of Catch
In Puntland, much of the fish caught by local fishermen is sold at-sea and never brought to shore, and is therefore not recorded as caught or landed in Somalia by Somali fishermen, even
if data was recorded at local landing sites. Since most of these fish are reportedly bought by Yemeni traders, it is considered to have neither landed in Yemen nor been caught in Somalia
waters. It is unclear whether selling fish at sea is illegal in Somalia or Puntland. Such transshipment is banned in many countries to ensure such catches pass through local landing
sites and processing facilities. It also confounds data collection systems in terms of volume of landings and source of catches even though it may be profitable to both fishermen and traders.
It can clearly be principally seen as unreported and unregulated catch, so another aspect of IUU fishing that requires closer investigation and action. There is clearly much work to be done to
understand the extent and magnitude of the problem and to build more robust fish catch- reporting systems with local fisheries authorities in Somalia.
6.4 Illegal Foreign Fishing
Somalia fishermen reported foreign illegal fishing as rather ubiquitous, with half the respondents in this survey saying that it occurs all the time, and a quarter saying that it occurs
frequently, with increased sightings over the past five years. Over half of the fishermen surveyed believed that that the foreign fishing vessels they saw did not have fishing permits,
but over a third said that they did not know. Relying on perceptions of illegal fishing is problematic in that some of the foreign fishing spotted by fishermen may be “legally”
permitted since Somaliland has reportedly issued some foreign fishing permits. This survey was
82 not able to determine the degree to which visible foreign boats were illegal or legal. The
volume of illegally caught fish was also beyond the scope of this study. Fishermen said that most of the foreign fishing was conducted by regional countries, and
especially Iran and Yemen. Oman, India and Kenya were also mentioned, but less frequently. Distant fleets from ChinaTaiwan were mentioned third, and boats from Russia and Spain were
noted, but much less frequently. More than 88 percent of respondents in our survey said that foreign fishing should not be allowed.
6.5 Somali Regulations on Fishing
