By Faisal Abu Bakr | 2024-01-13

ADEN -- Many Yemeni fishermen say they are reluctant to fish in the Red Sea due to the Iran-backed Houthis' attacks on vessels in the key waterway, and their fear of getting caught in the middle of the conflict.

The Houthis' naval attacks jeopardize the fishing profession and the income of over a million families who live in coastal areas on the Red Sea, mostly in western Yemen's al-Hodeidah province, they say.

Since November 18, there have been more than 25 attacks against merchant vessels transiting the southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.

"Our fear of missiles has caused us to stop fishing," said Abdo Ahmed, a fisherman in his 30s from the district of Khokha.

Ahmed, who has four children, is one of about 10,000 fishermen in Khokha who are enduring the same situation.

"Fishing -- our only source of income -- has stopped, because our lives would be in danger if we continue to work," he told Al-Fassel.

Another fisherman, Ahmed al-Qadeemi of al-Hodeidah, said fishermen in his area are gravely afflicted by "the curse of war."

"We used to make our living on the sea, but now we have to depend on the land to provide for our families," and there are few means of income on land, he told Al-Fassel.

As a result, many al-Hodeidah fishermen are looking for ways to leave the area and move abroad, he said.

Chasing death

Ali Hameed al-Ahdal, director of the media office in al-Hodeidah province, said 80% of the province's residents -- over 300,000 people -- make a living from fishing, which is their only source of income.

Now, he said, the men are reluctant to go to sea because of the danger they face amid the clashes between the Iran-backed Houthis and the international forces who counter their attacks.

Fishing has turned into the profession of "looking for death" in the current situation, he said, especially that the Houthis have control over al-Hodeidah.

If the tide does not turn, the current conditions might cause a famine that would affect more than a million families in al-Hodeidah, he told Al-Fassel.

A famine would exacerbate the challenges those families have already been facing since 2015 when the war with the Houthis started, al-Ahdal said.

The Houthi attacks also dim the prospects for peace in Yemen.

Political analyst Faris al-Beel said the Houthis' attacks on commercial ships have undoubtedly impacted Yemeni fishermen, destroying their livelihoods and turning the region into a war zone.

"Local fishing has weakened and reached its lowest levels, while non-local fishing in Yemeni waters, done by foreign companies, has increased, which is illegal and unfair," he told Al-Fassel.

"The Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea will affect not only the fishing profession but will also cause an increase in prices inside Yemen, which worries Yemenis, particularly those living in western Yemen," political analyst Mahmoud al-Taher said.

With their actions, the Houthis are causing Yemenis considerable suffering and posing a comprehensive threat to the entire region, he said, adding that measures are needed to "eliminate the Houthi group from the western coast of Yemen."

Al-Taher warned against tolerating the Houthis' and the Iranian regime's destructive actions on the Red Sea.

"The Houthis, and Iran's support for them, must stop in order to secure international shipping lanes and allow the return of Yemeni fishermen to the sea and to their jobs," he told Al-Fassel.