Yemen
Asia · Western Asia
No located Yemeni source specifically addresses recreational spearfishing (underwater fishing). Marine fishing is governed by Law No. 2 of 2006 (regulating fishing, exploitation and protection of aquatic organisms) and its Executive Regulations (Prime Minister's Resolution No. 296 of 2006), which are framed around artisanal/traditional and commercial fishing; the General Fisheries Authority issues only traditional-fisherman, vessel, seller, transport, export and company licenses, with no recreational or sport-fishing category published. There is no published recreational-spearfishing licensing pathway, prohibition, or permission. In practice Yemen has almost no dive/spearfishing tourism infrastructure and is in protracted armed conflict, so the activity is effectively inaccessible for foreign visitors regardless of the formal legal text. Marine protected areas (notably the Socotra Archipelago, a UNESCO World Heritage site) impose conservation restrictions. Legality of recreational spearfishing is therefore marked unknown pending retrieval of the verbatim gear/method provisions of Law No. 2 of 2006 and Resolution No. 296 of 2006.
Air ùrachadh mu dheireadh An t-Ògmhios 15, 2026
Frèam riaghladh
- §Law No. 2 of 2006 regulating fishing, exploitation and protection of aquatic organisms (78 articles)
- §Prime Minister's Resolution No. 296 of 2006 (Executive Regulations for Law No. 2 of 2006)
- §Law No. 3 of 2011 (amending Article 40 of Law No. 2 of 2006)
- §Decree-Law No. 42 of 1991 on regulation of fishing and management and protection of marine resources (superseded by Law No. 2 of 2006)
- §Environment Protection Law No. 26 of 1995
An lagh, verbatim
Teacsaichean laghail
Na foillseachaidhean reachdail agus riaghailteach mionaideach a tha a' riaghladh slighe-biasd an seo, air an luaidh mar a chaidh am foillseachadh, le ceangal ri gach stòras oifigeil.
Purpose and scope of Yemen's principal fisheries law
Law No. 2 of 2006 regulating fishing, exploitation and protection of aquatic organisms
This Law, consisting of 78 articles divided into VI Parts, aims at protecting and developing marine creatures and their marine environment from random fishing and detriment practices; encouraging and organizing investment in fishing and exploiting marine creatures and their marketing; organizing artisanal and coastal fishing activities to replace foreign industrial fishing; encouraging investments in aquaculture; promoting an integrated information database; strengthening marine control and surveillance; supporting research for sustainable exploitation of marine creatures; and protecting fish production quality through development of artisanal fishing.
Official closure of the shrimp fishing season in Red Sea territorial waters
Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Water Resources decision (under the Law Regulating the Fishing, Exploitation, and Protection of Aquatic Life and its executive regulations)
The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Water Resources announced the closure of the coastal shrimp fishing season in the Red Sea within Yemen's territorial waters, effective 30 April 2026. The decision is based on recommendations from research and fisheries bodies and comes within the framework of preserving fishery resources and ensuring the sustainability of aquatic life reproduction in territorial waters. Violators will face the penalties stipulated in the Law Regulating the Fishing, Exploitation, and Protection of Aquatic Life, its executive regulations, and other applicable laws.
Cuin a ghabhas tu tumadh
Ràithean & cuingeachaidhean ùine
Ùineachan dùinte, fosgailte agus cuingichte tron bhliadhna. Daingneach an-còmhnaidh dùnaidhean gnè-sònraichte gu h-ionadail.
- DùinteCoastal shrimp - Red Sea, Yemeni territorial watersGib 30 – unknown
The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Water Resources ordered closure of the coastal shrimp fishing season in the Red Sea within Yemen's territorial waters effective 30 April 2026 to protect stocks during the reproduction period; the reopening date was not stated in the announcement. This is a commercial/artisanal shrimp closure, not specific to spearfishing.
Cead iasgaich
Cead
Dè a dh'fheumas tu gus a bhith ceadaichte anns an uisge, dè a chosgas e, agus mar a gheibhear e.
Commercial/traditional licenses are issued via the General Fisheries Authority's digital platform; no recreational pathway documented.
Faigh do cheadFosgailte am portal oifigeil · faas-ye.com
- Seòrsa
- No recreational/sport or spearfishing license category is published. The General Fisheries Authority issues only traditional-fisherman, fishing-vessel, fish-seller, fish transport and marketing, fish-export and company licenses for marine fishing in territorial waters.
- Cosgais
- unknown
- Dligheachd
- unknown
- Mar a gheibhear e
- Commercial/traditional licenses are issued via the General Fisheries Authority's digital platform; no recreational pathway documented.
- Ùghdarras
- General Authority for Fisheries (General Fisheries Authority, Arabian Sea) under the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Water Resources
Uidheam & dòigh
Riaghailtean uidheamachd
Dè an uidheam a tha ceadaichte, mar a ghabhas a cleachdadh, agus na cumhaichean ceangailte.
No located source specifies rules on spearguns, harpoons, or scuba for recreational use. Law No. 2 of 2006 and its Executive Regulations (Resolution No. 296 of 2006) govern fishing gear and prohibited methods, but the verbatim gear/method provisions could not be retrieved (the FAOLEX full text is a scanned Arabic-language image PDF). Use of explosives and other destructive methods is generally prohibited under the fisheries and environmental laws, but the exact wording was not obtained.
Dè ghabhas tu
Crìochan glacaidh & gnèithean dìonta
Cuòtathan làitheil, meudachdan as lugha, agus gnèithean nach gabhar a-chaoidh.
Crìoch làitheil
unknown
No recreational daily bag or size limits located. Yemen's fisheries are managed for sustainability under Law No. 2 of 2006; conservation concerns focus on over-exploited rock lobster and shrimp stocks, demersal fish, and shark stocks (shark finning is a recognised compliance problem). Sea turtles and corals are protected within marine protected areas, but a verbatim protected-species list for spearfishing could not be confirmed.
Cò a dh'fhaodar iasgach
Luchd-tadhail & luchd-còmhnaidh
Mar a tha na riaghailtean eadar-dhealaichte airson luchd-tadhail cèin agus luchd-còmhnaidh ionadail.
Luchd-tadhail cèin
Cuingeachaidhean
- No recreational spearfishing pathway is published for foreigners.
- Yemen is in protracted armed conflict; most governments advise against all travel, and dive/spearfishing tourism infrastructure is effectively non-existent (the limited liveaboard diving historically operated mainly in the Red Sea islands).
Industrial/foreign fishing has historically been a concern that Law No. 2 of 2006 explicitly aims to replace with artisanal/coastal fishing. No documented regime grants foreign recreational divers a spearfishing permit.
Luchd-còmhnaidh
Traditional fisherman license (commercial/artisanal, not recreational)
Marine fishing in territorial waters by nationals is organised through traditional-fisherman and vessel licenses (for Abari and Jalbah vessel types). No recreational resident spearfishing category is published.
Càite air a' chladach
Sgìrean ceadaichte & toirmisgte
Sgìrean ainmichte a tha fosgailte no dùinte airson slighe-biasd. Faic an dealbh-iomlan air a' mhapa eadar-ghnìomhach.
Sgìrean toirmisgte
- Socotra ArchipelagoUNESCO World Heritage marine/biosphere reserve
UNESCO World Heritage site and Man and the Biosphere Reserve (designated marine protected area in 1996; biosphere reserve 2003). The archipelago contains numerous marine and terrestrial protected zones managed by the Socotra/Environment Protection Authority; sea cucumber harvesting by non-Socotri investors has been stopped and import/export of living materials requires a special EPA permit. Conservation rules restrict damaging activities; no published authorisation for recreational spearfishing.
- Ras Isa Marine Parkmarine park
Designated marine protected area on Yemen's Red Sea coast (listed among Yemen's protected areas).
- Zuqur Islands Marine National Park (Zubair / Hanish-Zuqur area)marine national park
Marine national park in the southern Red Sea (Zuqur and surrounding islands) listed among Yemen's protected areas.
- Kamaran Island Protected Areamarine protected area
Marine protected area in the Red Sea about 5 km off Al-Hudaydah, declared a protected area by cabinet resolution in 2009. Kamaran is the largest Yemeni shelf island in the Red Sea (about 108 km2); coral-reef ecosystems surround the island on three sides and mangrove forests cover its northern parts. Conservation status restricts damaging extractive activities; no published authorisation for recreational spearfishing.
Suidheachaidhean air an uisge
Suidheachaidhean beò
Snapshot mara agus sìde beò faisg air àite iomraidh cladaich ann an Yemen, o Open-Meteo. Bidh suidheachaidhean ag atharrachadh air feadh a' chladaich — làimhsich mar chomharra.
Mara & sìde beò faisg air Socotra Archipelago.
Cò ri fhaighneachd
Ùghdarrasan
Na buidhnean oifigeil a tha an urra ri iasgach agus ceadachadh.
Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Water Resources (formerly Ministry of Fish Wealth)
fisheries ministry
saba.yeSanaa, with regional offices in Aden, Hodeidah and MukallaGeneral Authority for Fisheries in the Arabian Sea (General Fisheries Authority)
fisheries authority
faas-ye.comEstablished by Republican Decree No. 9 of 2001Environment Protection Authority (EPA) / Socotra Environment Protection Authority
environment authority
ye.chm-cbd.netOversees protected areas including the Socotra Archipelago
On a thàinig seo
Stòrasan
Bidh gach tagradh air an duilleag seo a' dol air ais gu aon de na h-iomraidhean sin.
- [01]
Law No. 2 of 2006 regulating fishing, exploitation and protection of aquatic organisms (ECOLEX abstract)
Oifigeilecolex.orgAir faighinn Ògm 15 - [02]
FAOLEX Database - Yemen fisheries and aquaculture legislation profile
Oifigeilfao.orgAir faighinn Ògm 15 - [03]
Law No. 2 of 2006 full text (Arabic, scanned PDF)
Oifigeilfaolex.fao.orgAir faighinn Ògm 15 - [04]
Saba (Yemen News Agency) - Ministry announces closure of shrimp fishing season in Red Sea
Oifigeilsaba.yeAir faighinn Ògm 15 - [05]
Fishery Authority Yemen - Licenses
Oifigeilfaas-ye.comAir faighinn Ògm 15 - [06]
Yemen Biodiversity Clearing-House - Legal and Institutional Framework
Oifigeilye.chm-cbd.netAir faighinn Ògm 15 - [07]
UNESCO World Heritage Centre - Socotra Archipelago, State of Conservation
Oifigeilwhc.unesco.orgAir faighinn Ògm 15 - [08]
List of protected areas of Yemen (Wikipedia)
Dàrnaen.wikipedia.orgAir faighinn Ògm 15 - [09]
Republic of Yemen Ministry of Fish Wealth - National Fisheries Strategy
Oifigeilunodc.orgAir faighinn Ògm 15
Notaichean rannsachaidh
Recreational spearfishing is not specifically regulated in any Yemeni source located. The fisheries regime (Law No. 2 of 2006 and its Executive Regulations, Resolution No. 296 of 2006; earlier Decree-Law No. 42 of 1991, now superseded) targets artisanal/commercial fishing and published license categories contain no recreational or sport-fishing pathway, so legal_status is set to 'unknown' rather than 'restricted' or 'no'. Verbatim gear/method article text could not be quoted because the only located full text is a scanned Arabic-language image PDF on FAOLEX (yem86989.pdf) that did not yield reliable OCR; FAOLEX/ECOLEX provide only abstracts. The two law_texts entries are (1) the ECOLEX abstract of Law No. 2 of 2006 and (2) the verbatim official shrimp-closure announcement from Saba (Yemen News Agency). Marine protected areas (Socotra Archipelago - UNESCO World Heritage; Ras Isa Marine Park; Zuqur Islands Marine National Park) restrict fishing/harvesting and require EPA permits for some activities. Practical context: Yemen has been in armed conflict since 2014/2015, dive and spearfishing tourism infrastructure is effectively non-existent, and most governments advise against all travel - so the activity is inaccessible in practice irrespective of the formal legal text. data_confidence is 'low' due to inability to retrieve verbatim primary-law gear/method provisions.
Thoir fios dhomh nuair a dh'atharraicheas riaghailtean Yemen
Cuiridh sinn post-d thugad nuair a thèid ràithean no riaghailtean Yemen ùrachadh nar cruinneachadh dàta.