DAMMAM: The Eastern Province Fishermen's Association has asked the Ministry of Agriculture to act to save the hamour fish from extinction, saying that current circumstances make it the most threatened species on a list of fish believed to be in danger. Ja'far Al-Safwani, vice chairman of the association, said the hamour is in danger of disappearing “in a short time” and that irresponsible fishing methods are primarily to blame. “Those methods have resulted in a large reduction in numbers of the fish in recent years,” Al-Safwani said. “Use of the internationally banned three-layer nets traps fish of all sizes and the destruction of the hamour's ideal environment is affecting its numbers.” He urged the authorities to clamp down on offenders and protect fish threatened with extinction. “It would be risky to ignore the falling numbers of various types of fish,” he said. “They constitute a national resource that should be protected by laws and legislation.” Dawood Saeed, head of the Marine Sector at the EP Fishermen's Association, said that legislation was required to addressing harmful netting practices, particularly fines for the “hundreds of thousands” of “qaraqer” type nets which are discarded into the waters of the Arabian Gulf every year, seriously threatening the hamour. A source at the Ministry of Agriculture said, however, that a fall in number of some species during a limited period of time does not necessarily mean they are threatened with extinction. He said that to confirm dwindling numbers long-term studies were required.
