Fishermen dump dead fish on Dibba beach

More than 10,000 dead fish deformed the clear water and sandy beach in Dibba Fujairah after they were dumped by fishermen seeking to get rid of excess catch.

Pictures published by the Arabic language daily Al Bayan showed the fish, some of which have started to decompose, dotted a long stretch of the beach in the quiet town, triggering a massive clean-up operation by local authorities.

The paper quoted fishing officials as saying the fish had been dumped by fishermen who sought to dispose of excess catch to avoid penalties by authorities following the introduction of regulations banning fishing malpractices and setting quotas to be caught by local fishermen in a bid to preserve the country’s marine wealth.

“These fish are a result of bad practices by some fishermen, who dump some of their catch in the water and on the sand,” said Suleiman Al Khadeem, deputy chairman of the UAE fishermen’s union and head of Dibba fishermen’s association.

“This is an irresponsible behavior by the fishermen as it causes environment problems, damages natural beauty and drains the country’s marine wealth.”

Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.