MOGADISHU (Somaliguardian) – A court in Somalia’s semi-autonomous Puntland region has fined 15 Iranian nationals for illegal fishing and ordered their deportation.
The group was arrested aboard a trawler found operating without permission off Puntland coast. Each individual was fined $500 and will be expelled from the country, the court ruled on Sunday.
Two Somali nationals who were aboard the vessel were sentenced to three years in prison and fined $2,000 each. A third Somali man, who remains at large, was sentenced in absentia to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine.
The vessel used in the operation was also fined $70,000.
The court said that two Iranian nationals who were killed during the operation to seize the boat were not eligible for compensation, citing their involvement in illegal fishing in Somali waters.
Illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing is a persistent issue along Somalia’s coastline, where foreign vessels are frequently accused of depleting fish stocks and undermining local livelihoods.
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