By Faisal Abu Bakr | 2024-05-28

ADEN -- An estimated 60% of fishermen in Yemen's al-Hodeidah province and along the country's Red Sea coast have lost their sources of livelihood as a direct result of the Houthis' attacks in the Red Sea, experts said.

This percentage is likely to rise, they warned, if the Iran-backed group continues its aggression.

In a May 12 statement on X, the US Embassy in Yemen said the Houthis' attacks deprived about 10,000 fishermen of their source of livelihood in the Red Sea, where the Houthis have launched multiple attacks on international shipping.

In al-Hodeidah alone, the attacks deprived 10,000 fishermen of their income, and forced many of them to relocate or surrender to hunger, it said.

The group's repeated attacks also triggered a rise in fuel prices.

The embassy noted that in February, the Houthis attacked a cargo ship carrying corn and other food items intended for the Yemeni people.

The attacks are making matters worse in Yemen, where the World Bank estimates 17 million suffer from hunger, it said.

Yemen imports roughly 90% of its food staples according to the United Nations, and relies heavily on aid shipments.

Fishermen are in trouble

Yemeni fishermen on the Red Sea coast now find themselves "in trouble and unable to provide a living for their children," said al-Khokha-based fisherman Abdo Fatini, who is supporting three children.

"The Houthis' attacks on ships in the Red Sea halted fishing activity for the majority of fishermen on the western coast of Yemen," he told Al-Fassel, adding that even before the war, the people of the Red Sea coast were struggling.

Over the course of the war in Yemen, he said, fishermen faced increasing difficulties at sea due to Houthi sea mines and military operations, "but from time to time we were able to embark on fishing trips."

"The situation has now become very critical because the attacks on ships have put fishermen in the line of fire after the Houthis started using their fishing boats to launch attacks and reconnaissance operations," Fatini said.

An estimated 300,000 al-Hodeidah residents depend primarily on fishing as a source of income, economist Fares al-Najjar told Al-Fassel.

Around 60% of fishery workers in the province are currently out of work, he said, while "71 fishermen were killed, and 40 others have gone missing."

"Fish production in Yemen has decreased by almost half," he said.

"Yemen used to export $300 million worth annually, and now we have lost half of that because of the Houthis' attacks in the Red Sea."