Al-Mocha.. Fishermen drowning accidents, important warning messages against ignoring safety tools
English - Thursday 03 November 2022 الساعة 09:49 am
Mocha, NewsYemen, private:
On the shore of Mocha District, dozens of fishermen were preparing for a business trip, on Tuesday, while others were leaving the sea, with their boats lined up along the shore, after spending the nights fishing.
But the fishermen, who number approximately 2500 fishermen in this coastal district. In addition to the thousands of fishermen in the cities on the eastern bank of the Red Sea, they practice fishing without caring for personal safety tools. They go to sea daily without life jackets or food and water, which should not be abandoned in the face of difficult times.
Although a number of organizations provided life jackets to fishermen, those who obtained them did not appreciate their value, so they sold them as tools that hinder them from their work during the practice of hunting.
Abdul Jabbar al-Sayyid, Acting Secretary-General of Al-Ziyadi Association, the association that manages the affairs of Mocha fishermen, says that the majority of fishermen do not see the need to carry them.
He adds that despite the awareness we are doing, no one listens to the dangers that must be avoided, so fishermen drowning accidents have been frequent, and these accidents could have been avoided if safety tools such as life jackets were carried, for example.
As for Muhammad al-Shamiri, a fisherman working in the Mocha fishing sector, he believes that the life jacket was not used by any of the fishermen, so when it was tried to wear it, they felt as if they were restricted in movement.
He adds that the jackets that the fishermen got from humanitarian organizations have sold because they saw that they did not need them, or that they did not know the value they represented when they faced drowning accidents.
Some of them preferred to leave it at their home, says the hunter Abdo Saeed, and they did not carry it with them despite its importance, perhaps due to their ignorance of the necessity of carrying safety tools.
It is believed that the lack of focus on the risks is limited among the fishermen, despite the difficulties they face during their practice of fishing, especially these days when the monsoon winds coming from the south intensify.
These winds cause some boats to capsize, while others malfunction, forcing them to spend hours at sea, before being rescued.
On Monday of this week, six fishermen drowned after their boat capsized near the Eritrean Dahlak Islands, while they were not wearing life jackets or carrying them as safety gear.
During the past years, such incidents have been repeated, as a result of some people venturing into fishing despite the high winds that lead to the capsizing of their small boats.
Most of the fishermen own small boats, the length of which does not exceed six meters, which makes it easier for the wind to turn them over, which causes casualties among the fishermen.
