Fisheries Law of the Maldives (Law No. 5/87)

Uhofficial Translation Law No. 5/87 24 August 1987 THE FISHERIES LAW OF THE MALDIVES Name 1. This . Law shall be cited as "The Fisheries Law of the Maldives". Fisheries In this Law "Fisheries"mean,s the fishing, capturing, or the taking of any l~ving .£X·OIlI the seas of the Formul at i on of Fisheries Regulations Exclusive Economic Zone of the Maldives, or any activity related thereto. (Note, "Seas" in this Law means the high seas and the waters inside the atOlls and includes lagoons, shallow water areas and reefs.) 3. (a) The Ministry of Fisheries is hereby empowered to formulate and administer and Fisheries Management and Development regulations fisheries. on matters relating to (b) The I\Unistry of Fisheries shall oversee all fisheries activities in the country. It shall be the obligation Fisheries of the to Ministry explore of the pos s i b i I i ties for the development of fisheries, to carry out the Fisheries Information research needed development and fisheries .. 4. (a) The Ministl"y of for to Fisheries such develop shall collect compile and analyse statistical and other in formation necessary for the management and development of fisheries, (b) Persons conducting f I sheri.es in the country shall provide the Ministry of Fisheries with all fisheries require. data the t-Hnistry may F1shi.ng by Porei gners in r:J. Commercial fishing in the Exclusive the Exclusive Economi.c Economic Zone of the Maldives by Zone of the Country foreigners, or Maldivians jointly with foreigners, shall require the permiss Ion of the Ministry of Trade and Industries. Licencing 6. (a) Fishing for export or any other cOUilDercial purpose in the waters of the Exclusive Economic Zone of the Maldives beyond the area most commonly used· by Maldivians for fishing shall be conducted under the authority 2 of a licence from the and Indust r-Ies , Ministry of Trade and after the payment may be Ministry. shall be agreement of a fee of such amOlmt as specified by the said Any pa.rty so fishing. requi red to have a written with the Ministry of Trade and Industries. (h) The agreement refe r-red to in the licence paragraph (a) the fo11owlog: i) The amount of above shall include fees and the royalty payable to the Government. il) The Government shall have the right to suspend or cancel the licence of any party contravening this Law. iii) The Government shall have the right to send a person or persons aboard fishing vessels and inspect them whenever necessary. usingshall be in the demo requi red for be ·caught fish is ~v) If the bait "~hirig vessel the country, it vessels and methods traditionally used in the count ry, v) Any person contravening this :) agreement courts of accordance Maldives. shall the with be tried Maldlves the laws in and of: the in the Procedure for entering the Exclusive Economic Zone of the count-ry by fishing vessels without a licence Cancellation of Licence Research fisherie$ 7. 8. 9. 4 A fishing veasel not licenced under this law. entering the Exclusive Economic Zone of the country. for whatever reason. is hereby required to ootain the prior permission of the Ministry of Pbheries. and every such entry shall be made as directed by the said Ministry. the Government of the Maldives shall have the right to cancel the 1Icence issued to a vessel under thet,provisions of Article 6 of this Law •.~i"f:'t:to' cancel the entire agreement with the party conCerTlea. based on the magnitude of the offence. If such a vessel or any person on board sllcha vessel has been found to have $cted. 01' to be acting or p IannIng to actin a manner that might endanger the peace or security of the country. Permission for research fisheries shall be granted by the Ministry of Hsheries unde.r specified conditions. ConservatIcn of living marine resources for a special purpose Steps to be taken in case of suspected illegal activities 10. 11. 5 In the event of a spectal need for the conservation of any species of the living marine resources. the M:inistry of Fisheries shall have the right to prohibit. for a specified period. the fishing. capturing or the taking of such species or the l'ight to es t ab l ish special sanctuaries from where such species may not be fished, captured or taken. The Mini.stry of Defence and National Security shall have the right to stop any vessel suspected of contravening this Law. and· to check such vessel including everything in it. Further, the r4inistry shall have the right to apprehend such vessel and objects used in c81Tying out such offences as we11 as' the proceeds obtained from it, The Ministry of Defence and National $ecurlty $hall also have the right to arrest any person or persons suspected of cOtllmittlng an offence under this Law. if it be decided that such person or persons may be required for investigations or for trial in court. What is done wi th apprehended vessels or artl des 12. Any vessel or article apprehended under the provisions of Article II of this Law shall be under the care of the Ministry of Defence and National Security until the completion of legal proceedings, and the Ministry shall have the right to sell by auction any peri shab Ie Pena Lti e s 13.1. article thus held and to hold the proceeds of such .sale. The penalty for fishing or attempting to fish without the licence specd f'Led in Article 6 of this Law in the area specified in the said Article, or fishlllg in the Exclusive Economic Zone of the ~.faldives \~ithout the permd s s i on specified in Article 5 of this Law, sha11 be a fine, the sum of whi ch shaI'l be between 100,QOO/- Rufiyaa and I .000.000/ - Ruf'Lyaa 01' 1:1 sum of money not exceeding the cost of the vessel elllp1 oyed in the contravention of this Law. Such fine shall be paid in a foreign currency acceptabIe to the 6 Governmerrt of Maldives. The articles used, together with any gains from such cont ravent Lon shall be confiscated. 13. 2. The penalty for a vessel contravening this Law while fishing under Hcence as sti.pukat.ed in Article 6 of t.his Law is a fine. the sum of which shall be between 1,000/- RufJyaa, and 1,000,000/- Rufiyaa. OJ;' 1:1 sum not exceeding the 1.:05t of the vessel emploYed in the contravention. This fine shall be paid in a foreign c.urrency acceptable to the Government of Maldives. arttc1es used in the contravention from such confiscated. together with any gains contravention shall be Fishing grounds most commonly used by MaI dlvi ans , B.3. 14. 7 The penalty for contravening this Law by a person having the right to fish in the shing ground.::; most commonly used by Maldivians within the ExcIusive Economic. Zone of the Maldives without a licence shall be a fine of a sum of between toO! ~ Runyan and 10 ,OOO!- Rufiyaa or illlpdsomnent or banishment or house ar-reat for a period of between 3 months and 1 year. In this Law the f.i.shinggrounds most commonly used by Maldiv:Lans within the Exc lusi ve Economic Zone of the country means area of the sea 8 extending to a distance of 75 miles from the outer reef of the atolls, including the sea bottom, which is inside the geographical co-ordination g1ven below. Latitudes Longitudes 7 51 f 30"N 74 56 I 09"E 7 48 30 N 74 29 45 E 7 41 50 N 73 38 34 E 7 39 02 N 73 19 38 1: 7 40 -52 N 73 03 .23 E 7 42 19 N rz 49 30 E 7 42 54 N '77 42 26 E/~ 7 49 OS N 72 03 45 E 7 56 00 N 71 17 00 E 1 57 20 S 71 17 00 E 1 57 20 S 75 00 xo E 7 43 24 N 75 00 30 E