KUWAIT: Chairman of Kuwait Fishermen Union Thaher Al- Sowayyan said fishing was an arduous and dangerous profession, adding that this calls for combining relevant authorities’ efforts to facilitate fishermen’s mission and protect their lives. He also noted that the local catch was being sold in local markets.

Responding to what he described as a campaign launched against trap fishing by some amateur photographers, Sowayyan stressed that they had legal fishing licenses like any other fishermen. He added that these photographers also accused expatiate fishermen of depleting local fish resources although they are official workers who legally came to Kuwait and contribute to securing its food supplies.

“All those fishermen’s catches are sold in local markets,” he underlined, adding that the fishing business cannot do without them because there are no Kuwaiti substitutes. Sowayyan slammed the “amateur photographers”, noting that they have been photographing fishing boats returning to the marina with their catch of mullet, claiming it had been caught within Kuwait Bay, although the boats only fish at specific spots outside the bay near Hammar Cape, Meskan Island and Failaka Island.

Passport validity The residency affairs manager at Jahra governorate Lt Col Saud Nasser Al-Tami reminded that the residency general department would start activating a ministerial decision on limiting residency validity to expats’ passports from January 2016 as stipulated by law number 17/1959 and article 15 of the foreigners’ residency law number 640/1987.

By Meshaal Al-Enezi