Fisheries law in Somalia

In short

Somalia has had two main fisheries laws in recent years. The Fisheries Law of December 2014 banned bottom trawling, cancelled all licences issued before it, and kept the first 24 nautical miles from the coast for Somali fishers (Glaser and others, Frontiers in Marine Science, 6 December 2019). The Fisheries Development and Management Law, No. 008 of 2023, was signed on 21 March 2023 and is the law the federal fisheries ministry now cites for registering and licensing vessels (Hiiraan Online, April 2023; Ministry of Fisheries and Blue Economy, fishing vessel registration brief).

For the sea area these laws cover, see Somalia's exclusive economic zone. For the wider fishing industry, see Fishing and the sea.

Before 2014

On 10 September 1972 Parliament passed Law No. 37 on the Territorial Sea and Ports, which claimed a territorial sea of 200 nautical miles (Wikipedia, Exclusive economic zone of Somalia). After the central government collapsed in 1991, foreign fleets fished Somali waters with licences from various authorities or with none. Italian trawlers fished under the companies SOMITFISH (1981–83) and SHIFCO (from 1987) until 2006, and Egyptian trawlers held licences from Somaliland until 2012 (Glaser and others, 2019).

The 2014 Fisheries Law

The law that took effect in December 2014 did three main things, according to Glaser and others:

• it banned bottom trawling;
• it cancelled all earlier licences;
• it kept the first 24 nautical miles for Somali fishers.

A summary held by the UN Environment Programme's law database says that under the law, "no foreign fishing vessel shall fish, attempt to fish or participate in fishing operations in Somali waters without a valid license issued under this Law" (UNEP LEAP, Fisheries Law of the Federal Republic of Somalia, review 2016). Somalia's 2017 report to the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission says the law also protects endangered species, including sharks, seabirds, marine mammals and turtles (IOTC, Somalia national report, 14 November 2017).

The 2018 revenue deal and the first licences

In February 2018 Somalia's National Security Council signed an interim agreement on sharing revenue from fishing licences between the federal government and the member states (World Bank factsheet, 7 March 2019). In December 2018 the federal government granted 31 tuna licences to vessels of the China Overseas Fisheries Association. Garowe Online reported a deadlock between the federal government and the member states over their share of the money (Garowe Online, 13 December 2018). Glaser and others put the government's revenue from these licences at about USD 1 million.

In July 2020 a new draft licensing law was written. It still needed approval from the federal parliament in 2021 (Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, Risk Bulletin 20). The same bulletin reports that in August 2020 four officials of the fisheries ministry were sent to prison. The head of finance and administration received 10 years and was ordered to repay USD 137,907.

The 2023 law

The president signed the Fisheries Development and Management Law on 21 March 2023, one of eight bills signed that day. Puntland's administration opposed it (Hiiraan Online, April 2023). The law covers licensing, supervision and protection of the exclusive economic zone. It also covers Somali ships fishing outside Somali waters (The EastAfrican).

• Who licenses. The Ministry of Fisheries and Blue Economy says the law gives it the job of managing all fishing vessels in the Federal Republic (ministry registration brief).
• Fees. A ministry notice of March 2026 sets licence and levy fees for foreign vessels in the zone under Article 79 of the law (ministry notice, March 2026).
• Revenue sharing. The EastAfrican reported that the federal government and member states still had to agree how to apply a revenue-sharing formula. Some states had not followed an earlier deal on sharing natural resources.

Sources disagree

• Who may license. The federal government says it alone issues foreign fishing licences under the 2023 law. Puntland and Somaliland issue their own (Daily Maverick, citing ISS Today, 13 March 2025). Glaser and others record seven Thai-owned trawlers flagged in Djibouti fishing off Puntland in 2017 under Puntland licences, even though the 2014 law bans trawling.
• Is the 2023 law an amendment or a replacement? News reports describe it as a new law. The ministry cites it by its own number (No. 008 of 2023). The full gazetted text was not found online, so this page does not say which articles of the 2014 law remain in force.