Moreover, significant poaching by unlicensed foreign trawlers and purse seiners has

been reported. Discarding of fish, despite it is banned, is widely practiced by both industrial and artisanal fisheries. It is associated with almost all activities of industrial fishing and with certain fishing gear in the artisanal sector. For example, the small-scale bottom trawl fishery for shrimp is usually associated with discards of large quantities of small and juvenile demersal fish several times larger than the target species [46]. The MFW reports that fishermen and/or the fisheries cooperatives tend to misreport catches to avoid paying the levy [27], [32] and [46]. In one case study, which highlights the level of misreporting, the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) estimated the catch for tuna Galunisertib and tuna-like species caught by artisanal boats in the year 2004 at around 42,000 t,

which is five times higher than the official reported figures [51]. Under-reporting or non-reporting typically increases in remote areas where fish are sold directly to the traders or are sold in the sea to a receiving Selleck Y-27632 boat or sold at unofficial landing sites. Hence, the catch from these areas does not enter into the official statistics and production estimates from these areas are estimated only if transported to the main cities or from the export figures at export outlets. It is noteworthy that significant quantities of small or low-value fish are usually sold directly to traders originated from the countryside and that these quantities typically do not pass through the catch-collection system. Landing sites along the Gulf of Aden are operated by the cooperatives that provide a wide range of services, including auctioning, marketing, facilities provision, maintenance, health care, and credit provision. However, cooperatives along the Red Sea are non-functional and provide far fewer services [52]. Landing sites and auction yards

in remote areas do not have the necessary facilities such as ice Epothilone B (EPO906, Patupilone) plants, storage, and marketing services. Moreover, cooperatives in these areas typically are not active and fishermen membership rates are very low. These areas mostly lack basic infrastructure. As a result, fishermen refuse to pay the levies imposed by the authorities. These practices lead to significant losses on both sides; the fishermen side and the state side. Fishermen get paid less for their catch because the prices are under the control of the traders, who dictate the prices, and the state loses control over the data collection system and loses the levies. Furthermore, this process minimizes the funds available for fisheries management and belittles the economic potential of the fishery.