Uncertainty has gripped the coastal fishing communities in Kenya after a ruling by the United Nations International Court of Justice (ICJ) and largely agreed with Somalia’s claim of ownership of a huge chunk of offshore area that served as a key fishing ground for the past 35 years.
The 100,000-square-kilometer offshore area has been the center maritime territorial dispute between the two neighboring countries since 2014. The dispute stems from a disagreement over boundary demarcation over the triangular patch of ocean, which Kenya claims was in 1979 created by a boundary line running east in a straight line parallel to the Equator from the country’s coastal border with Somalia. However, Somalia insists the boundary of the disputed area should be demarcated by a line running southeast of its land border.
In its ruling, the ICJ handed a sizeable portion of the disputed offshore Indian Ocean area, which contains two significant fishing zones, to Somalia, despite acceding to Kenya’s request to shift part of the shared maritime boundary to the north.
It is unclear whether Kenya, which withdrew from the case and vowed to ignore the final verdict, will comply with the ICJ ruling. It claimed in a submission to the court that there “is an existing maritime boundary that was established in 1979.”
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https://www.seafoodsource.com/news/supply-trade/un-court-ruling-shrinks-kenya-s-fishing-grounds