Country review: Kuwait

Gary Morgan
FAO Consultant, Fishery Policy and Planning Division, Fisheries Department
August 2004

INTRODUCTION

Kuwait is situated in the northwestern corner of the Gulf that separates Iran from the Arabian Peninsula and has a small coastline to that Gulf. The sea area and coastline of Kuwait is characterized by extreme meteorological and hydrological conditions with water temperatures reaching over 33°C during summer months (air temperatures of over 50°C), very high evaporation rates and high salinities. Seasonal variation in hydrological parameters is also high with water temperatures varying from around 15°C in winter to 32°C in summer. Apart from the important shrimp fishery, which is undertaken both as an industrial, export-orientated fishery and as an artisanal fishery, the fisheries of Kuwait are generally small and include a multi-species, multi-gear fishery that is directed towards various demersal and pelagic fish species. Like other countries of the region, many of these species utilize the Gulf waters of Kuwait on a seasonal basis, often for spawning, although some major species are found in the area throughout the year.

In general, the management of fisheries in Kuwait is not well developed although some management measures have been in place for the industrial shrimp fisheries since the early 1980s. Fisheries are insignificant from an economic point of view in Kuwait and therefore are of a low political significance.

Kuwait’s fisheries primarily consist of two distinct sectors: the industrial shrimp fishery and the artisanal fishery that operates small trawl nets, fish traps (locally known as ‘gargoor’, gillnets, handlines and fixed stake nets (locally known as ‘hadra’) to take demersal and pelagic fish species as well as shrimp.

An active research program, which until recently included the collection of detailed catch and fishing effort data, is carried out by the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR) on major commercial species. Recent estimates indicate that, in 2001/2002, shrimp landings totaled 2 206 tonnes with 1 348 tonnes coming from the 35 industrial shrimp trawlers and the remainder from the fleet of 33 artisanal dhows. Landings of fish species for the same period included 1 132 tonnes as bycatch from shrimp trawling activities (although actual catches of bycatch species is much larger), approximately 3 700 tonnes from the gillnet and fish trap fishery and an estimated 2 700 tonnes from the stake net (hadra) fishery. Catches and catch rates of many fish species have declined significantly in recent years with 2001 fish catches being the lowest on record.

The monitoring and management of commercial fisheries has deteriorated in recent years with budgets for research, monitoring and surveillance being limited. As a result, detailed collection of landing statistics and fishing effort, which had been undertaken by KISR since the late 1970s has been discontinued, although market sampling of the quantity of receivals into the main fish markets continue to be collected by the Central Statistical Office.

POLICY FRAMEWORK

The national or federal authority with responsibility for fisheries management is the Public Authority for Agriculture and Fisheries Resources (PAAFR).

The subsidization of local fisheries remains an important part of Government management policy and measures. As part of this direct subsidization program (which is usually in the form of cash grants), the Government’s response in 2003 to declining levels of fish catch has been to double the level of direct subsidies to the industry in an effort to retain domestic prices at affordable levels and to support the profitability of the operators. Only the Kuwait nationals who are vessel owners, benefit from these subsidies since foreign workers on the vessels are engaged on a contract basis.

Local Municipalities undertake administration of fisheries-related infrastructure, such as the important local fish landing sites, fish markets and Fishermen’s Co-operatives. Informal co-operation between these authorities and PAAFR is generally well developed.

The requirement to develop fisheries management plans is not contained in any legislation and no fisheries management plans currently exist for any fishery. As a result, policy directions for management of individual fisheries are not explicit and are often subject to change through political or administrative influences.

In 2001, Kuwait published a comprehensive Marine Strategy aimed at an integrated approach to the management of its marine areas, including fisheries. However, implementation of the strategy has not yet taken place.

PAAFR is also the agency with responsibility for international fisheries issues. However, regional co-operation is weak although a bilateral Agreement with Saudi Arabia was implemented in 2000 to define the status of the marine resources (including fisheries) on the border between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Kuwait has ratified the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) but not the UN Fish Stock Agreement nor the FAO Compliance Agreement.

LEGAL FRAMEWORK

Responsibility for fisheries management in Kuwait lies with PAAFR although national and regional environmental authorities (particularly the Regional Organization for the Protection of the Marine Environment, ROPME and the Kuwait Environment Protection Authority, EPA) have influence in management of marine areas. In particular, the EPA, working with ROPME, are responsible for marine reserves in Kuwait.

PAAFR administers the basic national fisheries legislation in Kuwait, which is contained in law No. 46 of 1980 on protection of fisheries resources. This is the basic fisheries law and includes regulations that address, among other things, (a) the right of fishing and exploitation of marine resources that shall be determined by a decree (b) regulation of foreign vessels which can only fish with a license issued by the competent minister (c) the requirement that all fishing vessels shall be owned by a citizen of Kuwait (d) the requirement that licenses should be issued to fishermen operating licensed fishing boats and (e) regulating gears used in fishing, and with cooperation of other departments to enforce regulations and law.

Numerous Decrees have been issued under this Law that elaborate specific regulations for management of fisheries. Most of these Decrees have remained unchanged since the early 1980s and specify, among other things, licensing of intertidal stake nets (Decree no. 20 of 1980), minimum mesh sizes of shrimp fishing nets (Decree No. 23 of 1980), minimum sizes for a variety of fish species (Decree No. 8 of 1983) and prohibiting commercial fishing within Kuwait Bay and within three miles of the coast (Decree No.11 of 1983). The flavor of Law Number 46 and the various Decrees issued under the Law is very much concerned with fisheries administration and there are no specific management policy objectives elaborated to guide fisheries management. Local legislation (administered by local Municipalities or the Ministry of Planning) regulating coastal development and the operation of fisheries infrastructure, such as ports, markets, landing sites etc., also impacts significantly on fisheries management legislation. The coastal development legislation and processes is particularly important in impacting on fisheries resources and their management, given the extensive coastal development and urbanization that is occurring in Kuwait.

STATUS OF THE FISHERIES

The fisheries of Kuwait can be separated into the industrial shrimp fishery (with 35 twin-rigged shrimp trawlers) and the artisanal fishery, which utilizes traditional dhows and small outboard-powered fiberglass vessels. The artisanal fleet lands about 90 percent of the finfish landings of approximately 3 700 tonnes (with a further estimated catch of 2 700 tonnes being taken by the fixed stake net fishery) and 45 percent of the shrimp landings^[325]. The shrimp fishery is an important part of the fishing sector with 35 industrial trawlers and 33 wooden dhows being licensed to take shrimp.

The industrial shrimp fishery^[326] started in the early 1960s, and expanded rapidly. With this expansion, however, catches also dropped rapidly resulting in the introduction of management measures in 1980, including closed seasons, protected areas (Kuwait Bay and three-mile coastal zone), mesh size regulations and effort limitation in order to optimize shrimp productivity.

As a result of these management measures, and particularly with the reduction in the number of industrial vessels in the mid-1980s, shrimp landings rose to between 4 000 and 5 000 tonnes in 1988 and 1989. However, after the 1991 liberation of Kuwait from Iraqi occupation, industrial fishing capacity was permitted to increase to 35 vessels (with illegal fishing by dhow vessels in the nursery areas of Kuwait Bay also being common) with the result that catches and catch rates have been reduced. In recent years, these have averaged around 2 500 tonnes. Shrimp exports have also been reduced.

There is therefore a general consensus that Kuwait’s shrimp fishery is suffering from overcapacity with the result that catches, average sizes and catch rates are sub-optimal.

The fish bycatch taken as part of shrimp trawling by both industrial and artisanal fleets is an important component of the catch and revenue from shrimp fishing, with the fish catch rate being significantly higher than the shrimp catch rate. Despite the importance of this fish bycatch, trials are being undertaken on bycatch reduction devices (BRDs) for possible introduction into the shrimp fishery.

Kuwait’s fishing fleet targeting finfish species is composed of two types of fishing vessels, namely, wooden dhows, and speedboats. These vessels are licensed to use only one type of gear which can be hemispherical wire traps (gargoor), drift gillnets or fixed gillnets of various mesh sizes. The registered finfish fleet consists of 120 dhows, using gargoor (94 boats) and gillnets (26 boats), and 748 speedboats (7 m) using gargoor (28 boats) and gillnets (720 boats) although not all of these may be active. The number of active fiberglass boats, which are equipped with outboard engines of 200 hp, varies seasonally. The number of inter-tidal stake nets (hadra) declined from 120 in the 1980s to about 30 in 1997. However, a recent survey has indicated that the number of these fixed stake nets has increased significantly in recent years and, in 2003, 522 stake nets were operating at 359 sites, mainly within Kuwait Bay.

Catches of finfish taken by vessels have been decreasing significantly in recent years, reaching a record low of 3 500 tonnes in 2001. The main contributor to this decline has been the important and high value species of zobaidy (Pampus spp.) and suboor (Tenualosa spp.).

The characteristics of the largest fisheries in Kuwait are shown in Table 1.

TABLE 1
Characteristics of the major fisheries of Kuwait

1. Does not include fish taken as a bycatch to industrial shrimp fishing operations.
2. Value in 2002 U.S. Dollars.
n.a: not applicable

Although overcapacity and the common occurrence of illegal fishing is apparently a major contributing factor to these declines in fish catches, it has also been suggested that the declines are linked to the changed hydrographic conditions in the northern Gulf as a result of the draining of the marshes in southern Iraq and the reduced freshwater inflow to the Gulf from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Several research programs are being planned to address this issue.

The once-important pearl oyster fishery was closed in the late 1990s for reasons that are unrelated to stock issues but more related to religious/political imperatives. Recent surveys of pearl oyster stocks in 2003 and 2004 show that abundance is similar to that of the last survey in 1989.

Although there is an active recreational fishery in Kuwait, taking demersal species from small speedboats, no data is available on the landings or the number of participants in this fishery. Recreational vessels need to be registered although there is no requirement for recreational fishing licenses.

Although an ongoing program of shrimp and fish stock assessment is maintained by KISR, these assessments of the status of Kuwait’s fish stocks have been made more difficult in recent years with the cessation in 2000 of a program (initiated in the 1970s) to measure fishing effort.

MANAGEMENT ACTIVITY

Kuwait was one of the first countries in the region to introduce management measures for its fisheries, particularly the important shrimp fishery. These management measures included closed areas, minimum mesh sizes and fishing capacity limitation through limited entry. In addition, an active capacity reduction program in the shrimp fishery in the mid-1980s^[327] resulted in catches, catch rates and average sizes increasing with catches reaching 4 000-5 000 tonnes in 1988.

Since the liberation of Kuwait from Iraqi occupation in 1991, management systems have deteriorated significantly. However, current management activity still includes:

• A closed fishing season for shrimp that starts in February or March depending on the catch rates during January. While the season has opened on 1st September for many years, industry pressure because of declining catches resulted in the season being opened on August 1 from 2002.

• Closed areas to protect spawning as well as recruitment of both shrimp and finfish; these areas are Kuwait Bay and the three mile zone from the coast.

• Effort limitation; entry to the shrimp fishery is limited by 35 industrial boats and 33 artisanal dhow boats although this is greater than in the 1980s.

• A minimum mesh size for shrimp trawls of 45 mm stretched.

• Minimum marketable sizes for commercially important fish species.

• Minimum mesh size of drift gillnets according to the targeted species.

In addition to the deterioration of management systems and measures, the enforcement by PAAFR of those management measures still in place has been sporadic^[328]. As a result, illegal fishing (including fishing in closed areas such as the nursery areas of Kuwait Bay) is common.

The cessation in 2000 of a program to measure fishing effort (which had been implemented in the 1970s) has significantly impaired the ability of Kuwait to monitor the status of its fisheries resources in any meaningful way. As a result of this lack of key data, assessment of stocks is not undertaken on a regular basis as the basis for management decisions.

No formal management plans exist for any fishery although the shrimp fishery tends to be subjected to more management intervention than the finfish fishery, which is only lightly regulated. In the absence of management plans, however, these management arrangements even for the shrimp fishery are not implemented within a strategic context and management objectives often remain unclear.

Stakeholder participation in the development of fisheries policy and management measures is through traditional discussions, often directly with senior Government officials. In general, these discussions are often concerned with subsidies and any other management issue discussed often results in compromise solutions. Such stakeholder participation is limited to nationals only, who are the vessel owners and may or may not be actively engaged in fishing. The expatriate workers on the vessels are not involved in such dialogue on management measures.

COSTS AND REVENUES OF FISHERIES MANAGEMENT

No separate data is maintained by PAAFR on the costs that are directly attributable to fisheries management issues. However, over the past ten years, budgets for fisheries management has certainly stagnated as management activities decline.

A significant part of the fisheries budget within PAAFR is utilized for the payment of subsidies to vessel owners. These subsidies are often at the discretion of the Minister and are often ad hoc in response to specific representations from fishers.

The budget for research services, which are mainly undertaken by the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, has generally been maintained over the past decade although an increasing proportion of the budget is being sourced from specific external contracts. These often have only marginal relevance to fisheries management issues and are becoming more orientated towards general marine environmental issues. This change has resulted in the cessation in 2000 of the program to measure fishing effort (previously funded since the 1970s by KISR) although a research program on bycatch reduction devices has recently commenced.

Compliance is undertaken both by PAAFR in co-operation with the Coast Guard, both of whom have the capacity to undertake at-sea inspections. Again, no separate accounting of compliance and enforcement costs is maintained within PAAFR. At-sea enforcement by the Coast Guard is also not accounted separately since fisheries-related issues are generally attended to during regular sea patrols for other purposes.

IMPLEMENTATION OF GLOBAL FISHERIES MANDATES AND INITIATIVES

Kuwait ratified the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) in 1986 with ratification of Part XI of the Convention related to deep seabed mining in 2002. Kuwait has not ratified the UN Fish Stocks Agreement nor the UN Compliance Agreement.

Although PAAFR are aware of the content of initiatives such as the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries, the provisions of this, or other initiatives, have not been incorporated into national legislation.

The implementation of the provisions of International Plans of Action related to managing fishing capacity, IUU fishing, shark management and seabird bycatch in longline fisheries has not been pursued. As a result, no national plans of action for any of these issues are incorporated into national legislation.

PARTICIPATION IN REGIONAL FISHERY BODIES

Kuwait is an active member of the Regional Commission on Fisheries (RECOFI) and participates in most of the meetings and working groups of the Commission. However, there is no real commitment to regional fisheries management by members of RECOFI and, as a result, the Commission is singularly ineffective in developing and implementing regional fisheries management initiatives.

As a result of this ineffectiveness of RECOFI, there have been no regional fisheries management initiatives emanating from RECOFI. Kuwait, therefore, has not been required to incorporate regional fisheries management issues into its national legislation.

There is, however, no legal requirement within the Kuwait fisheries legislation for fisheries management issues that may be adopted by RECOFI (or other regional bodies) to be incorporated into national legislation.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

Kuwait was a leader in fisheries management in the region but, since the liberation of Kuwait from Iraqi occupation in 1991, the effectiveness of fisheries management has declined significantly. This is partly a result of a refocusing of political commitment, including subsidizing Kuwaiti national vessel owners, and partly a result of a stagnation of the budget for fisheries monitoring, control, surveillance and research.

As a result, the fisheries of Kuwait are suffering from overcapacity and reduced catches and catch rates, with finfish landings reaching record lows in 2001. The explanation of the declines in landings have been interpreted as partly a result of changed hydrological conditions in the northern Gulf although the contribution of fishing effort changes cannot now be assessed because the program designed to measure fishing effort was terminated in 2000.

Illegal fishing and a deterioration of fisheries monitoring and management systems since 1991 has resulted in apparent stock declines for many important fish stocks. The challenge for the Kuwait authorities is to re-establish their position as a regional leader in fisheries management and to address the rehabilitation of not only their national fish stocks but also their supporting monitoring, management, surveillance and research infrastructure systems.

REFERENCES

Al-Husainai, M., Al-Baz, A. and Al-Wazzan, Z. 2003. Status of Kuwait’s Finfish Fishery. Country report to second RECOFI meeting, Muscat, May 2003.

Ye, Y, Al-Foudari, H.M. and Bishop, J. 1999. Shrimp resources and fisheries in Kuwait waters. Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research Technical Report FM 021C: 44pp.

APPENDIX TABLES

Current management of marine capture fisheries in Kuwait

Use of fishery management tools within the three largest fisheries of Kuwait

n.a: not applicable

Costs and funding sources of fisheries management within the three largest fisheries

Compliance and enforcement within the three largest fisheries

Capacity management within the three largest fisheries of Kuwait