Yemen has lost some US$150 million last year in the fisheries sector due to The prevalence of Somali piracy in the Gulf of Aden, Prime Minister Ali Mujawar said on Monday in a meeting held in Djibouti to help address the problem of piracy and armed robbery against ships off the coast of Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden.

"Last month, Somali pirates seized three fishing boats and their crew members," Mujawar said, adding that pirates often get rid of the fishermen by firing them into the sea, or returning them with the smugglers to the Yemeni coasts.

Number of fishermen and some crew members are still being held hostages by Somali pirates, he said.

He said that maritime piracy was an international problem and was a harmful to the commercial interests of the countries of the world but said that the economic interests of Yemen had been severely damaged sooner than any other country.

This piracy has affected the movement near the Yemeni ports and undoubtedly led to a rise in marine insurance rates, he said.

The success of pirate activity adds a new challenge to efforts to restore security and stability in Somalia, Mujawar concluded.

Analysts said that due to anti-piracy operations by international naval forces in the Gulf of Aden, Somali pirates were switching over their operations to Indian Ocean.

Once the navies did well with respect to their declared aim, why they failed to resolve the piracy problem through 2009, they inquired.

They, further, said navies from at least 17 states were patrolling Somalia's seas and had had some success in their primary aim of disrupting pirate activity, but said that the problem of piracy would remain until a long-term solution is found to Somalia's position as a failed state.