Bottom trawling threatens Libyan small-scale fishers’ livelihoods
LIBYA – A field report published by the British website Dialogue Earth has examined complaints by Libyan small-scale fishers about dwindling fish stocks and the impact of foreign vessels using bottom-trawl nets on marine resources and coastal communities’ livelihoods.
Meagre catches after hours at sea
The report, followed and summarised by Al-Marsad, quoted 46-year-old fisher Faraj Abdelsadiq as saying he now returns to the port of Al-Khums after long hours at sea with a catch too small to match the time and fuel consumed.
Abdelsadiq said he has worked at sea for more than 20 years and has never faced conditions this difficult, arguing that stocks are falling as large vessels use cone-shaped nets dragged along or near the seabed to catch demersal fish and crustaceans in deep water, leaving little for local fishers.
The report said he previously earned between 1,000 and 2,000 dinars per trip, but may now struggle to make 300 dinars.
More than 3,500 vessels, mostly small boats
It said thousands of fishers in Libya work from small boats with modest equipment, and that most cannot regularly reach deep waters, while many of them blame industrial bottom trawling far offshore for depleting stocks and damaging seabed habitats.
It noted that Libya’s coastline stretches about 2,000 kilometres and that the fishing fleet comprises more than 3,500 vessels, of which small boats account for more than 90%, typically 5 to 12 metres long; their owners usually make day trips within 12 nautical miles of the coast.
They use traditional nets, lines and traps to catch red mullet, sea bream and grouper, usually in waters less than 50 metres deep, while depths beyond 800 metres are not among their usual fishing grounds.
Advanced gear for deep-water fishing
According to the report, deep-water bottom trawlers need powerful engines, long towing cables, winches and gear able to lower and haul nets from depths of hundreds of metres — capabilities beyond those of small-scale fishers.
It noted, however, that limited access by local boats to those depths does not shield them from environmental harm, because seabed habitats serve as feeding, breeding and nursery grounds for marine species that later reach shallower coastal waters.
Giant red shrimp and vessels from Italy
The report pointed to important grounds for giant red shrimp between southern Sicily and northern Libya, at depths of roughly 400 to 800 metres on the continental slope off the Libyan coast.
It said the commercial value of these crustaceans draws trawlers from afar, especially from the Italian port of Mazara del Vallo, and that some vessels once caught between 300 and 350 kilograms a day before those rates fell sharply, amid continuing concern over damage to deep-sea ecosystems.
Calls for tighter oversight of foreign vessels
It quoted Ismail Al-Shaqman, head of the Libyan Association of Friends of Artisanal Fishing, as saying marine resources belong to all Libyans and should not be left to foreign vessels and unregulated practices that deplete stocks and undermine fishers’ livelihoods.
Al-Shaqman called on the Ministry of Marine Resources, maritime inspection authorities and the coastguard to strengthen oversight of Libyan waters and enforce rules on unlicensed fishing, banned gear and destructive practices, while protecting deep-sea ecosystems before damage becomes harder to reverse.
Limited monitoring and vessel data
Nicolas Fournier, campaign director for marine protection at Oceana Europe, said Libya’s limited capacity to monitor its waters leaves it exposed to foreign fleets, noting that such vessels need a legal permit to fish, that some Italian vessels target deep-water species, and that vessels from other countries may also take part, but that available data are weak.
Abdelmajid Militan, an environmental scientist at Misrata University, said protecting resources first requires measuring them, through mapping damaged areas, regular stock monitoring and systems to track catches and identify where and by which vessel they were taken.
The report warned that a lack of data could allow marine habitats to deteriorate before Libyan institutions grasp their ecological value, with knock-on effects for the stocks on which small-scale coastal fishing depends.
Ongoing violations and proposals to widen protection
It quoted Saber Al-Azabi, undersecretary for technical affairs at the Ministry of Marine Resources in the Dbeibah government, as saying ministry data point to continuing violations, including illegal entry by foreign vessels into Libyan waters, and that some exploited periods of weak oversight even though such activity has declined in recent years.
The report also cited support for tightening environmental and international fishing regulations and extending the ban to waters deeper than 800 metres, saying this would be in line with efforts to curb the depletion of deep-sea resources in the Mediterranean.
It also cited experts as saying that changing the permitted depth limit for bottom trawling will not be effective unless paired with monitoring and law-enforcement mechanisms.
