Mereja.Forum

These young men have to cross the rough sea to get to northeastern Somalia every week just so their children and family can eat, while Ethiopians risk their lives in Yemeni desert to reach Saudi Arabia..

Many of the Yemeni coastal communities live in absolute poverty and depend on the vast Somalia territory rich fishing waters for their food and livelihoods, Now, I am curious to know about how much Yemeni boat owners pay for the catch for each vessel.




Before the Yemen war,

According to the FCU’s figures, Yemeni fishermen and their Somali counterparts from in northeastern Somalia have reached a kind of unofficial agreement, The Yemenis send their vessels to Somalia and then either get the Somalis to fish for them and buy the catch off them, or are allowed to fish for themselves on payment of a hefty fee. To get permission to fish, Yemeni boat-owners pay US$1,000 upfront to northeastern Somali officials through an agent in Mukalla, Southern Yemen, The Somali leaders' green light enables Yemeni fishermen to fish freely in northeastern Somali waters.

If the Yemeni fishermen choose to buy a Somali catch - caught using the Yemeni boats - they have to pay $1,200 ($1,000 for the license, and $200 in tax). The catch for each vessel can usually be sold in Yemen for up to $10,000 and a significant amount of that catch is re-exported to Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Dubai.

This article was produced by IRIN News 19 September 2007

In the meantime, Ethiopian farmers risk all in Yemen to reach Saudi Arabia, Sad situation!!

There are about 12,197 fishermen in Hadhramaut who fish in 4,611 boats and vessels but as stocks in Yemeni waters have declined due to heavy fishing, more and more boats have crossed into Somali waters without license, Estimates suggest that before the Saudi Arabia blockade of Yemen's ports between 200 and 300 Yemeni boats were fishing illegally in Somali waters at any given time.


Beautiful ocean.