Separate fishermen from mammoth investors ruining the environment:The conscious of the sea [Archives:2003/653/Opinion]

By Yazan Al-Saghiry
[email protected]
Have you ever been to Hodeidah or Hadramout? Have you ever met a local fisherman? Can you imagine, there are still people in the 21st century living in cottages? How about if I tell you that those cottages are not wooden! They are made out of straw! They call them “Ishash”, single: “Isha”. Some time ago, a bald, short and fat man went to the Ministry of Fisheries in order to meet an official. He was very well dressed; especially the tie! Oh dear, I can't forget his tie. Anyway, he introduced himself as an investor. He sat on his chair in front of the official, boasting his full belly, smoking his 'light' cigarette and saying: “You know sir, I work on investment since I was very young. As for now, I really like to do some business in my country; fisheries business. So, I came to you to know what are the facilities you offer; although I'm preoccupied with an idea – I got if from different sources : you help no one at all”! “Oh really” the officer answered, “well, allow me Sir to say, you are absolutely wrong. We encourage the investors to invest in Yemen, and, so a result, we have a lot of Yemeni and non Yemeni investors working here. Anyway, we have a book of our regulations and rules, you can 'study' them, and then you will know what are the facilities we do offer. On the other hand, not related to your interest, we even help the fishermen to have their own fishing boats! We pay 50% of the total amount. As for the rest, the fisherman pays them as payments every six months, for four years. What else can be done?!” The investor said happily, “Amazing, I want to have some boats of yours!” The official tried to correct the misunderstanding, “You got me wrong Sir, this offer is only for local fisherman; not investors! Besides, every fisherman is allowed to have only one boat”. “I'm a fisherman”! The investor said “It is so easy, I work on fishing, so I'm a fisherman”. “Sir, in order to be a fisherman, you have to be a member in one of the fishermen social associations”, said the official. “Didn't I tell you, you help no one!” The investor said with a stupid smile on his face, “I will make this country, not a naive fisherman”. Here, the official got very upset. He gave the investor the book he told him about, and showed him the way out! After this conversation, a memory sneaked through my mind. Once, I witnessed and investigation with some fishermen. I remember, I was very bored until all of sudden, I noticed a very poor man. He was wearing a shirt, it was torn almost in two halves, and a 'Fota' – a Yemeni traditional cloth, it looks like a skirt, but it is manly -, with no shoes! Yes, he was barefoot! Trickles were filling his face and his skinny hands. I don't know really, believe it or not, but the moment he came in, I smelled the smell of the sea! Amazingly, that man knows almost every inch of the Red Sea! He named more than 30 islands and rocks in that short period of investigation! And his trips on fishing – as he said – sometimes last for weeks. Can you see the difference? A man never goes to the sea, unless he wanted to spend some time on the beach in the summer with his family! He lives in his house – if I didn't say 'Palace' – with his family, running his business from his office. And he says: “I'm a fisherman”! On the other hand, we have a man, who has nothing! Traveling in the sea means everything to him. Otherwise, he would die out of hunger! He is unified for weeks with the sea, feels its feelings, happy when the sea is calm, and scared when the sea is angry. He obeys the sea rules, and believes me, they are very harsh rules. When that poor fisherman was asked about the last month he went fishing, the man was very confused. All he remembered, he went when the moon was full, which means it is 14th or 15th of something; he meant of course a Lunar Month! He knows time by looking at the moon. As I told you, he is very obedient to the law of the sea. He heard stories from his grandfathers about courage men, who disappeared in the sea, but that didn't make him reconsider his carrier. Something in his heart tells him, “It was their fault, they might broke that sacred law!” Whether that rude investor likes it or not, those fishermen are the kings of the sea. He is nothing but an intruder, especially when he has no respect to them or to the law of the sea. He might be rich, and they might be poor, but he is temporal and they are eternal! I know it is a vague conception and it needs some explaining.
I believe I have a marvelous example. Do you know that the traditional Yemeni fishermen played a very major rule in the tribunal between Yemen and Eritrea over Hanish and other islands and rocks in the Red Sea? Their statements were highly considered by the Arbitral Tribunal. Their memories and 'naive' stories – like that 'naive' investor said – were very crucial to assure the right of Yemen in those islands. Also, the traditional fishing regime itself was highly appreciated by the Arbitral tribunal. This was shown in the “first phase: the Eritrea – Yemen Arbitration” (First Award), the last chapter (No: XI), which was entitled by “Disposition, the last Article (527-vi): “the sovereignty found to lie with Yemen entails the perpetuation of the traditional fishing regime in the region including free access and enjoyment for the fishermen of both Eritrea and Yemen”. When that first arbitrate issued on 9/10/1998, it was based on “sovereignty determination”. Here, any researcher is expected to raise a very important question; why did they recognize the subject of traditional fishing in the first award: 'sovereignty Award'; the award that confirmed Yemen's sovereignty over those islands? In fact, he would not be able to find any answer in the first phase award! Because the Arbitral tribunal chooses top put all the subjects of 'Maritime Boundaries' and 'Traditional fishing' in the “Second Stage: Maritime Delimitation”. They stressed the traditional fishing in one whole chapter (No: IV), which was entitled by “The traditional fishing regime”. The articles (form 87 to 112) were all about traditional fishermen and their extraordinary case! The tribunal issued that the sovereignty here is not to be considered 'a Western Territorial Sovereignty'. Otherwise, Eritrean fishermen were not allowed to fish nearby Yemeni Islands, nor use them for sheltering (Second Award, article (92)). As a result, the traditional fishing award:
1 -It was only about fishermen from both parties (Yemen and Eritrea), not Yemeni Government nor Eritrean Government!
2- It gave the fishermen the right to fish in every inch in the eastern part as well as the western part of the Red Sea. In other words, they have the right to fish in the eastern part as well as the western part of the Yemeni Islands, article (109).
3- If any fishermen (Yemeni or Eritrean) crossed the maritime boundaries, which were demarcated by the Tribunal, it is not a 'violation' because, both parties traditional fishermen have a humanitarian and historical right to fish in 'the whole region', article (109) too.
4- Neither the Yemeni nor the Eritrean fishermen are asked for any kind of agreements between both governments to give them that right, article (110).
This issue is really highly important because there are a lot of misunderstandings about it, but I don't want to be far from the main idea. So, I will leave it now for good, but with hope that I might come to it next time.
Back to our subject, if the Arbitral was very understanding to this issue and this is an international court, i.e., it is the highest judgment authority on earth, so why don't we understand? Why doesn't our government understand? Of course, no one asks to end the investment in any field in Yemen, but we do want to have some strict punishments for those 'Pirates'; I mean those investors who destroy the marine environment, destroy the coral reefs and torn the nets of the fishermen', which was issued by the government to punish those who break 'the 6 nautical miles', which was issued by the government itself last year. It says, “All investment ships are obliged to fish beyond 6 nautical miles from the coast. This regulation in particular is always broken! These are some drops from rain of violations that happen almost every day. So, dear government: SOS*!
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* An internationally recognized radiotelegraphic distress signal, used esp. by ships and consisting of the letters SOS spelled out in Morse Code
()-).
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[archive-e:653-v:13-y:2003-d:2003-07-24-p:opinion]