1.8 million fine for catching 47 reef sharks

The National Center for Wildlife Development announced the arrest of violators in the Eastern Province who were in possession of 47 blacktip reef sharks for sale. The center emphasized that fishing for reef sharks is prohibited, with a penalty of 40,000 riyals per individual, in accordance with the executive regulations for sustainable management of the marine and coastal environment. It indicated that coordination was made with security authorities to arrest the violators and refer them to the competent authority to take legal action against them.

Legal advisor Majed Al-Ahmari revealed that the executive regulations of the Environmental System for Sustainable Management of the Marine and Coastal Environment, which were approved and implemented in September 2021, define hunting as searching, chasing, capturing, wounding, killing, or otherwise of any marine wildlife. The regulations specify that their provisions apply to the marine and coastal environment within the Kingdom's territory, including inland waters, the territorial sea, the contiguous zone, the exclusive economic zone, and the continental shelf.

Al-Ahmari pointed out that the value of the fine for serious violations in the regulations is estimated according to the degree of damage, the natural importance of the affected site, its area, the type of affected receptors, and the economic and social impacts resulting from that damage. A violation is considered serious if it includes actions that lead to environmental degradation, or actions that lead to damage to sensitive receptors or environmentally sensitive areas. The violator is required to correct the violation, repair the damage, and pay compensation.

حظر صيد السلاحف البحرية

Al-Ahmari explained that the total fine for violators is 1,880,000 riyals, for hunting marine creatures that are prohibited to hunt, and which are included in the list along with other types of sharks that are prohibited to hunt, including the oceanic whitetip shark, the scalloped hammerhead shark, the hammerhead shark, and the swordfish or sawfish. The fine for hunting each creature is 100,000 riyals, while the fine for hunting the tiger shark, the grey reef shark, the blacktip shark, the whitetip (coral reef), the bull shark, the Swiss shark, and the dog shark is 40,000 riyals per creature.

The regulation stipulates a fine of 60,000 riyals for the silky shark, the grey or sand shark, the lemon or sicklefin shark, the hook shark, the whitetip shark, the sickle-fin shark, the long-finned shark, the blond shark, and the protruding-tooth shark.

The list of sharks prohibited from fishing includes the slender reef shark, the white-cheeked shark, the catfish shark, the garfish shark, and the mako shark. The fine for catching each shark is 80,000 riyals.

The regulation also specified the sea turtles whose hunting is prohibited, namely: green, hawksbill, loggerhead, olive ridley, and leatherback turtles, and the fine for this is from (5,000) to 100,000.