Only Emirati nationals will be able to captain UAE-registered fishing boats from next April in a move to encourage more nationals to work, a top fisheries official said Tuesday.
"The new fisheries law stipulates that only locals, either the owner of the boat himself or his representative, a UAE national, should be captaining a vessel" by April 2001, A. Abdel Razzaq of the agriculture ministry told Khaleej Times.
The decision "was aimed at attracting more local fishermen to the trade and to boost the local fish industry," Abdel Razzaq said.
There are currently 10,606 fishing boats registered in the Emirates and 18,758 fishermen, of whom only 27 percent, or 5,065, are Emirati citizens - DUBAI (AFP)
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