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Libyan fishermen say they now enjoy more freedom to carry out their work. They said they faced . . .[restrict]a number of restrictions under the Qaddafi regime. They explained that the previous authorities would not permit them to stay in sea for more than 48 hours in each fishing trip, for fear that they might become involved in non-fishing activities — such as smuggling people and goods in and out of the country. They also faced the problem of fishing licenses which would take over three months to renew.
“Now we can obtain the license in a matter of few days only,” said Salim Saddiq, who has been a fisherman for more than 29 years. He said that in the past, he was effectively jobless while waiting for a new license to be issued.
According to Toure Misbah, chairman of the committee supervising Tripoli port, fishermen can now stay up to 10 days at sea on each voyage. He also said their conditions were steadily improving.
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