Saudi fishermen lack proper support from concerned authorities. Most Saudi fishermen are old and will soon retire. Youths are not attracted to this occupation. The presence of foreign fishermen will only increase unemployment among citizens. Foreigners do not usually abide by regulations that forbid fishing for certain species. They also often use forbidden tools and fish in forbidden areas.

Paradoxically, areas such as Rabigh and Mastoura, which are rich in fisheries, do not have proper ports, oil stations or ice stores to keep the fish. In order to prevent this profession from going extinct, it is imperative of the concerned departments to establish vocational centers to train youths to become fishermen. The concerned departments must provide the youths with the necessary tools and with long-term soft loans in order to attract them to this profession and enable them to close the gap between production and consumption.

There is a question which is repeated asked by people: Why have we not established fish farms considering that the Kingdom has many areas suitable for such an industry?

Such steps will provide Saudi youths with more job opportunities, to provide them with the required protein and to reduce imports. Otherwise the fishing profession in the Kingdom will become a thing of the past.