11 



YEMEN 



The U.S. Embassy in Sanaa, Yemen, prepared the following report on the fisheries of Yemen, 

 been edited only slightly to help it conform to other country reports. 15 



The report has 



1. General Background 



The Republic of Yemen was established in May 

 1990 from the merger of the Yemen Arab Republic 

 (North Yemen) and the Peoples Democratic Republic 

 of Yemen (South Yemen). The country has over 

 2,250 kilometers of coastline, of which 1,550 lies on 

 the Indian Ocean. South Yemen had a long coastline 

 along the Gulf of Aden and operated Soviet-supplied 

 trawlers. It had developed a rudimentary commercial 

 fishery, mainly centered on state-owned corporations 

 based on the Soviet model. The Soviet vessels have 

 all fallen into disrepair and few if any are still 

 operating. Similarly, the large cold storage plants are 

 not operating and the Soviet-styled fishery 

 corporations have been liquidated. With the help of 

 the United Nations Development Fund and bilateral 

 donors, Yemen is attempting to develop a coastal- 

 based labor-intensive artisanal fishery. 



Between 1980-84, average fisheries production 

 was 90,000 tons and rose to 104,000 tons from 1985 

 to 1989. In 1986, peak production was reached 

 totalling 1 13,200 tons due to increased production by 

 foreign vessels under a catch-sharing agreement with 

 the South Yemen Government in which between 15 

 to 38 percent of the catch was given to the South 

 Yemen Government. However, production decreased 

 to 77,100 tons in 1990 due to decreased activities of 



foreign vessels. The average share of catch in 1990 

 was 40,200 tons to the private sector, 27,300 tons to 

 cooperatives, 3,400 tons to government fishery 

 corporations, and 6,200 tons to foreign investors. 



2. Fleet Background 



The Republic of Yemen's Ministry of Fishing 

 Resources reports that there are 15 trawlers (100- 

 GRT to 200-GRT) registered in Yemen, but only a 

 few of these are operating. The average age of these 

 vessels is over 10 years. There are approximately 

 4,000 small, open vessels powered by outboard 

 motors. 



3. Shipyards 



The only fishing craft built locally are small 

 fiberglass vessels powered by outboard motors. 



4. Fishermen and Fish Processors 



There are about 25,000 fishermen employed in 

 Yemen's fishing industry and 400 fish-processing 

 workers. The fish-processing workers earn an 

 average of 5,000 Yemeni rials per month ($420 at the 

 official exchange rate, or $1 10 at the normal market 

 exchange rate) 



37 



