TEXT AND PHOTOS BY YAHYA AL SALMANI Every morning at sunrise, a number of Omani youth head to the fish markets, waiting for the fishermen’s boats to arrive, carrying boxes filled with fresh local fish. These various fish are offered at different prices, and after the process of buying and selling the fish is completed, these young men negotiate with the buyers and offer them the service of cleaning and cutting the fish they purchased.
The service of cleaning and cutting fish in Omani markets is known locally as ‘Al Taqmeet’. Places in local fish markets have been designated for this exclusive service. In Muttrah Souq, for example, there are more than 35 internal platforms that help these young people practice this profession that they inherited from their fathers.
“We adapt to the ‘mood of the sea’. The state of the sea and the weather are what determine the paths of our daily income. If the waves are rough, we are forced to return back to our homes, because our presence here will be a waste of time. While if the sea is calm, we spend our day time here as we do every day offering ‘Al Taqmeet’ services”, an Omani said.
Omanis offer ‘Al Taqmeet’ service to the customers for rather cheap prices. These prices are determined by negotiation with the fish buyer.
“Since there is no specific price for this service, we seek to offer our services at affordable prices in order to benefit from the demand of the majority of customers for this service”, he added.
“Cleaning fish is an integral part of the professions related to marine fishing, and is indispensable in places where fish are sold. Practitioners of this profession know the mechanisms for dealing with various types of fish that only specialists can master”.
Cleaning some types of fish and other marine creatures requires special skill and experience that not everyone possesses, and cleaning items such as shrimp, squid, and small sardines is more difficult compared to larger types of fish.
“This profession requires experience and knowledge in dealing with various marine species, in order to ensure the removal of all impurities while maintaining the quality of the product. Most market customers agree to clean their fish to avoid the trouble of removing the scales and intestines of the marine products that they buy in their homes themselves, and this profession provides a resource He provided livelihood to a large number of Omanis who became professional in this work years ago”, an Omani youth explained.
The process of cleaning fish requires special tools and special skills mastered by those working in this field. The process begins by scraping the outer surface of the fish to remove the scales using a sharp tool, then extracting the internal entrails using a sharp knife. Other types of fish are cleaned by skinning the skin, then the cutting process begins according to the shape requested by the customer.
The profession of ‘Al Taqmeet’ which completely depends on very simple tools is still survived despite the modern tools that are currently used commonly in the hypermarkets around Oman. Young Omanis have no intention of leaving this profession in different local markets, even though its financial returns are fluctuating (unstable).
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