In a statement the President of Puntland State of Somalia denied that the Hart Group has been given any rights on the surveillance and issuing of licenses and fishing rights for the territorial and EEZ waters of the state. The EEZ of Puntland is frequented by European and Asian vessels targeting tuna, during season. Also a number of IUU vessels are active in these waters.
The Hart group, a London based security company, and its associate company, Global Fishing Licenses Limited, announced in a press release in November 2002 that it had signed a Letter of Intend for a management agreement for the fishing grounds of Somalia with the Transitional National Government of the Republic Somalia.
According to the Hart Group press release; “this would stop several individuals/companies issuing bogus licenses of dubious authority with themselves as beneficiaries with no financial benefit accruing to the host country, The Republic of Somaliaâ€. The agreement would make the Hart group the sole exclusive authority empowered to issue fishing licenses to foreign vessels, set sustainable catch quotas and provide Monitoring Control and Surveillance cover including the provision of patrol craft with the power of stop/search and detain/arrest.
However the Puntland State of Somalia says the Transitional National Government has no authority over it’s EEZ at all, and considers the surveillance activities and other monitoring activities of the Hart group within its territorial waters and EEZ illegal. This also means that any licenses issued by the Hart group for tuna fishing within the EEZ of Puntland State of Somalia are not recognized by the local authorities.