Yemeni fishermen used to sail off shores that are more than 2,500 kilometers long. The shores stretch across two seafronts extending from the Red Sea to the Arabian Sea, including Bab Al-Mandab strait. For hundreds of years, if not more, the ancestors of Sami Merhi and other fishermen sailed without restrictions, in search of their livelihood.
Since 2016, Sami Merhi’s nets have been empty. Sami, who lives in the city of Al-Mukalla, capital of Hadhramaut, east of Yemen, has been sailing the sea for 15 years until he was prevented from approaching certain areas on the coast of the city of Al-Shihr, where more than 4,000 fishermen make a living off its harbor.
To the east of Hadhramaut is Al-Mahrah Governorate, where Abu Abbas Al-Mahri who has been fishing there since the 1990s, was also prevented from approaching specific places at sea. As a result of this ban, “a fisherman is unable to provide a daily sustenance,” Al-Mahri says. Some fishermen whose debts reach YER 400,000 or 500,000 (approximately $2000) are unable to pay back…