Tehran, Iran, Oct. 11
Trend
An Iranian provincial official said a total of 479 non-Iranians are catching Lanternfish the country’s waters in the southern province of Hormozgan.
“According to Iran Fishery Organization, some 479 foreigners are fishing for Lanternfish in the province, using 91 fishing vessels,” Mohammad Ali Salimi, the head of the province’s Department of Cooperatives, Labour, and Social Welfare, said, IRNA reported on October 11.
Their activities are legal and they all have working permits, he added.
“These foreigners will be replaced with local fishermen in the near future,” Salimi said.
The remarks came after a member of the Supreme Council of Provinces in Iran said in August that overfishing by Chinese ships in waters off the southern Iranian coasts in the Persian Gulf has put seafood resources at risk there.
“Excessive fishing by huge and industrial Chinese ships (in the Persian Gulf) is endangering species of aquatic animals,” Kianoush Jahanbakhsh said on August 10.
“What I say is what Iranian fishermen, locals and eyewitnesses (in Hormozgan province) say,” Jahanbakhsh said at the time.
He noted that this has affected local fishermen’s livelihoods.