In an effort to protect the Gulf?s dwindling fish stock, the Ministry of Environment and Water has taken to educating fishermen on endangered species and tools used to minimize the overexploitation of fish.

Dr Rashid Ahmad Bin Fahd, Minister of Environment and Water said that some of the modes used to do this include natural fish reservations and exhibitions.

Human population has caused a decline in the fish stocks of Hamour, Qbait and CVobia in the Gulf region, in turn giving rise to growing concern over the issue.This is keeping in mind the fact that the Environment Agency-Abu Dhabi (EAD) estimates that the rate at which hamour are caught is six to seven times in excess of sustainable levels.

Work in the Shaikh Khalifa Marine Research hatcheries in Umm Al Quwain aim to produce an estimated 10 million high quality fingerlings of fish that are economically valuable like hamour, shaim and gabbit .These will then be reintroduced in lagoons and marine conservations.

Rashid Juma Al Shamsi, Head of Operations of all 16 Sharjah museums and the curator of the Sharjah Maritime Museum said that regulation is more important than awareness, the sheer importance of raising awareness as a primary step cannot be neglected.

The Ministry of Water and Environment plans to achieve this feat through cleaning beaches, and constantly educating fishermen in addition to holding regular conferences.

The efforts to ameliorate the situation taken in this respect deserve to be honoured and further be supplemented for effective results in the years to come.