Until the process was stopped in 2004, industrial fishing was carried out according to the agreements signed with these fleets to fish in the Yemeni waters; however, many other foreign vessels are still frequently reported to illegally operate due to the low chances of being discovered and the weak enforcement of laws and regulations.

This practice of illegal transfer of the catch into or out of Yemen contributes significantly to the current uncertainty in catch statistics. Direct transfers from Yemen into other countries, mainly INK 128 mouse Egypt, were estimated in 1999 at up to 40,000 t per annum [46] and [53] and this quantity typically did not enter into the official catch statistics. Moreover, a large quantity of fish originating from Eritrea is illegally transferred and sold in the Yemeni market, where market circumstances are better than in Eritrea [54]. However, no accurate estimates

are available for this amount. This amount, regardless, will not significantly affect the total catch of Yemen because of the relatively small production estimate of Eritrea, which is currently between 4,000 and 12,000 t per year [55]. The Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries, the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries and other international BGB324 agreements have introduced management tools to improve fisheries management and combat IUU fishing. However, management strategies of the fisheries sector in Yemen are still beyond the mainstream of modern fisheries policy. The lack of FMPs is attributed to the weak knowledge base of the resources, which is reflected in the unreliable statistics and unknown stock status. The legislation provides the basis of penalties for violations and penalties have being relatively strengthened by issuing the law no. 2/2006. However, infringement is still common, compliance of fishermen is low or lacking, and enforcement of the laws and regulations is weak or absent. Although the law provides the minimum requirement to combat IUU fishing, the weak enforcement and prosecution procedures prevent the enforcement of the regulations and

encourage non-compliance. The lack acetylcholine of compliance and enforcement reveals the poor governance of the sector and reflects the widespread corruption among the policymakers, fishery managers, enforcement officers, monitoring personnel, and judiciary authorities. Therefore, for any future policy reforms, it will be necessary to consider introducing appropriate anti-corruption measures and policies to improve transparency and accountability. Moreover, as the data on the resources are not available at the moment, the fishery managers need to adopt the precautionary approach widely, using the best available information, including that related to traditional and indigenous knowledge. When the results from the research become available, management plans can be modified accordingly.