Ministry of Fisheries, Marine Resources and Agriculture has amended the fisheries regulation to allow foreign workers to join fishing crews.
The regulations previously banned foreigners from directly participating in fishing activities and were only allowed to work as security personnel, cooks, or cleaners on fishing vessels. It also stated that fishing vessels are required to have a maximum of two foreign workers and the fisheries ministry set a quota for such foreign workers. The regulations had caused some fishing vessels to halt operations.
The fisheries ministry recently made amendments to the fisheries regulations in response to complaints from fishermen. The amendments include allowing four foreign workers to work on fishing vessels smaller than 15m long and six foreign workers to work on vessels between 15-24m, while eight foreign workers will be allowed to work on vessels larger than 24m. The amendments also dictate that the foreign workers should have work permits issued by the relevant authority and fishing vessels are required to hire foreign workers in adherence to the quota set by the government.
The number of foreigners illegally working on fishing vessels has been increasing. In order to solve the issue, the fisheries ministry is issuing USD326 fines to vessel owners and captains for violation of the regulations. The fisheries ministry will also be conducting inspections in the near future. The statistics from the fisheries ministry show that 750 vessels have been issued fishing licenses and 17,000 fishermen are currently active.