Yemeni fishermen bleed money in Red Sea 'death trap'

Hamdi Ghalib, 32, has been a fisherman for over a decade in Yemen’s Al-Hodeidah province, which overlooks the Red Sea. His boat and nets are the equipment that enables him to make money to cover his six-member family’s living expenses.

Hamdi tells The New Arab that fishing is dangerous today and may cost him his life. The danger has nothing to do with the rough sea or the strong wind. Instead, he fears being killed, injured, or kidnapped as the military escalations in the Red Sea have kept widening.

“It has been one month since I quit going to the sea to catch fish. The recent deployment of military forces in the Red Sea has been intimidating,” said Ghalib, who belongs to Al-Khokha, a coastal district in Al-Hodeidah.

"While the chaos at sea has been severe trouble for several countries and global shipping companies, it has also brought hell to thousands of Yemeni fishermen, robbing them of safety and livelihood"

Yemen’s Houthi group has been assaulting Israeli-linked ships in the Red Sea off Yemen, deeming it an act of support for Palestinians in Gaza that Israel has bombed since October last year.

As Houthi attacks on shipping lanes continued unabated, a multinational maritime coalition led by the US came into being in December.

Consequently, more warships have been deployed into the Red Sea, turning it into a frontline and a death trap. 

While the chaos at sea has been severe trouble for several countries and global shipping companies, it has also brought hell to thousands of Yemeni fishermen, robbing them of safety and livelihood.

On January 26, eight fishermen were found dead in the Midi coastal district of Hajjah province after one month of disappearance. Houthi authorities said the cause of death was “deliberate gunfire,” accusing the international forces in the Red Sea of the killing.

According to the Houthi-run Fisheries Ministry, the eight fishermen belong to the Al-Khokha district, and they were all identified with the help of their documents and personal possessions.

“The sea has become a battleground, and the rival forces could perceive any moving boat as a potential threat. That is why we have lost safety,” said Ghalib. 

The loss of livelihood

The finding of the eight dead fishermen late last month haunted those working in the fishing sector in Al-Hodeidah. Nowadays, Yemeni fishermen are like soldiers who go to battles, and they do not know whether they will return unscathed, wounded or dead, Nasser Abdu, 41, a fisherman from Al-Luhaya district in Al-Hodeidah, told The New Arab.

This uncertainty has forced thousands of fishermen to remain distant from their work, preferring to spend their savings, borrow money, or find an alternative job over risking their lives.

Roughly 300,000 people in Al-Hodeidah work in the fishing sector, of whom 60 percent have lost their jobs after the Houthis began attacking the shipping lanes in the Red Sea, said Ali Al-Ahdal, the director of the Yemeni Government Information Office in the province.

“I hope the Israeli war on Gaza will stop soon, and the Red Sea will return to normal as it was. The longer the conflict continues, the deeper our suffering gets,” said Nasser Abdu, who has been working in the fishing sector for the past 15 years.

The Red Sea tensions have added to the humanitarian ordeal of civilians in Al-Hodeidah and magnified the number of people who need aid, according to Abdulkareem, an aid worker with a local charity in Al-Hodeidah city.

“The economic circumstances of fishermen in Yemen, including Al-Hodeidah, are hard even if they work daily. Nowadays, many of them experience harder living conditions after losing their source of income,” Abdulkareem told The New Arab.

He added, “Only by living close to fishermen or their families can one get a vivid picture of how the U.S.-Houthi faceoff has impacted this category of people in this city.”

"Sea mines had been deployed in coastal areas in Al-Hodeidah, killing fishermen over the past years. This new conflict in the Red Sea will prompt more sea mine deployment"

The danger of sea mines in the Red Sea

The first direct clash between the Houthi fighters and US forces in the Red Sea occurred on December 31. The American forces sank three Houthi boats, killing ten armed crewmen.

That confrontation sparked fear among fishermen in Al-Hodeidah, causing them to think twice before sailing. Abdu, the fisherman, said the Houthi fighters could use small boats, similar to the fishermen’s, to patrol and monitor the situation in Yemen’s territorial waters.

“When the Houthis fighters went deeper into Yemen’s territorial waters, they came closer to the American forces; They clashed. But fishermen are cautious and try to limit their movement,” said Abdu.

Whereas fishermen can limit the distance they cover at sea to avoid being seen by foreign forces, the danger of sea mines is hard to discover and avoid.

“Sea mines had been deployed in coastal areas in Al-Hodeidah, killing fishermen over the past years. This new conflict in the Red Sea will prompt more sea mine deployment,” Abdu told The New Arab.

Fares Alhemyari, Executive Director of the Yemeni Landmines Observatory,  said the Houthi group has lately deployed a massive number of naval mines in the Red Sea.

The mines were installed for “defensive purposes” in front of Kamaran Island, Al-Salif, Al-Hodeidah Port, and other sites to prevent any naval operation or fend off any military attack from the sea, according to Alhemyari.

In September last year, the Houthi group displayed eight types of sea mines in a military parade organized in Al-Sabaeen Square in Sanaa, naming them: Thaqib, Karrar, Mujahid 1 and 2, Owais, Masjoor 1 and 2, and Asif.

Over the past nine years of conflict in Yemen, many fishermen have been killed in sea mines as the warring sides used such explosives to impede the military advance of each other.

A Houthi official in Al-Hodeidah city told The New Arab that the “US-UK aggression” has launched dozens of airstrikes on the port city during the last three weeks, and these two countries may encourage “mercenaries” from Yemen or elsewhere to launch a naval attack on the Houthi-controlled ports and Islands.

“This war forces us to employ any weapons to defend ourselves. The sea mines could affect the fishermen in Al-Hodeidah, and we know every war has its consequences,” the Houthi official said.

The writer is a Yemeni journalist, reporting from Yemen, whose identity we are protecting for their security.