Vote for song
Merge 104.8 | 24 June 2020
With many fish markets across the Sultanate allowed to re-open to the public today [Wednesday, June 24], the livelihoods of many sea-faring Omanis return to business-as-usual.
As a reminder of the invaluable role of local fishermen within the Sultanate’s economy, in light of the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, Merge 104.8 photographer Ismail Al Farsi shows us through his lens a way of life among the sardine fishermen of Dhofar that’s persisted for generations, in tune with the sea.
As fish markets in Dhofar still await the green light to re-open, it is important to note that the images in this photo series were taken last year during the 2019 fishing season, prior to the coronavirus pandemic in Oman. Yet still they evoke a sense of timeless perseverance.
Early morning, they cast their nets with the sun, their bounty glinting like silver; for a full catch is a treasure indeed for the sardine fishermen of Taqah, a wilayat in the Governorate of Dhofar. Men – fathers, grandfathers, sons, have plied their trade in these waters and along these shores for generations.
Known locally as ‘Al Dhawaghi’, Oman’s sardine fishing season ordinarily begins in the southern governorates of the Sultanate in October, after the replenishing monsoon season, and runs until April each year.
Fishing in groups of 16 to 20, led by the most experienced fisherman in their crew, it’s a trade on which their livelihoods depend. The spoils of the catch are divided among the crew, with the largest share going to its leader. Starting with the dawn, they gather on the beach to cast off – massive, hand-repaired nets at the ready to see what the catch of the day will hold.
If they’re lucky they’ll return with nets heaving with silvery sardines, knee-deep in the Omani tides that have borne them bounty for hundreds of years, as the gulls swoop and circle.
*Editor’s Note: A version of this photo series was previously published in Merge 104.8’s sister publication Y Magazine.
(Also read: Oman Gallery: Khareef season begins in Dhofar.)
