TAQAH: Many fishermen in the Wilayat of Taqah in the Governorate of Dhofar depend on the sardine fishing of which new season starts these days, locally known as “Al Dhawaghey”. Fishermen hope to harvest a good catch that guarantees them a good income from October to April of each year.
Sardines fishing was one of the most important sea revenues in the Wilayat of Taqah. This activity was adopted as a main activity for surface fish catching at the meeting of the Sea Norms Committee in Taqah with an inventory team of the Directorate General of Fisheries in June 2009.
The citizens in the wilaya depended on a local way called “Al Dhaghyah” in relation to fishing as a source of livelihood along with agriculture and grazing as the economic cycle of the three professions are linked to dried sardines, which is used as animal feed during the summer months and fertilizer for agriculture as well.
Al Dhaghyah is a group of fishermen ranging in size from 16 to 20 people, headed by a leader, the most experienced fisherman, usually the owner of the fishing boat. The leader has the largest shares, compared to the rest of the group of fishermen. He also owns nets and fishing boats. In the Wilayat of Taqah and in the Sultanate in general, the local fishing “Al Sunbouq” boat was used to fish sardines.
The season of sardine fishing begins after the end of the Khareef (Monsoon season) from October to April. The season is proceeded by collecting of Al Dhaghyah tools and repair of nets. The daily work begins with Al Dhaghyah from the early morning when the fishermen gather at a familiar point on the beach waiting for the signal of the leader, who is on board of a boat that follows the sardines and leads the group to lure the sardines into the trap.
Ahmed bin Said al Ma’shani, head of one of three Al Dhaghyah, told the Oman News Agency (ONA) that fishing is still active on the coastal strip between the wilayats of Taqah and Salalah. He said the fishermen are currently facing several difficulties, namely the lack of support to provide fishing tools like nets etc, as well as the lack of a sufficient number of fishermen where most of the youths in the wilaya do not like to work in the sardines fishing anymore.
He added that the profession of fishing sardines is the profession of ancestors. It was the source of livelihood of large segments of the population, and called for preserving the profession, as the expat workers entered the profession after it was abandoned by the youth upon agreed daily wages.
In the past, most of the citizens of the Wilayat of Taqah were involved in the preparation of the Al Dhagheyah season. After they descend from their seasonal trip to the mountain during Khareef, after the retreat of rain the drizzle, waves of the Arabian Sea calm down, everyone gets tempted. — ONA
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