DAMMAM: Thousands of shrimp fishermen are now sitting idle or searching for other jobs since the authorities banned shrimp fishing in the Kingdom's waters effective from Feb. 1 this year. More than 7,000 fishermen are working in this sector and the majority of them are from Qatif, Jubail and Darrien areas. Most of these fishermen are now working in supermarkets and hypermarkets as sales assistants, driving taxis, or selling vegetables on the streets. Most expatriate shrimp fishermen have now left the Kingdom and will return in August, when the next season starts. Others are doing other jobs like their Saudi counterparts. Ramanujam, an Indian expatriate from Kanyakumari, said that he is out of a job because the catch last season was not good. He did not make enough money to take a long vacation. “I have a big family to support back home. The money I made by catching shrimp last season was not enough for me to take leave. So I am hunting for [other] jobs here to accumulate enough money to go back home,” he told Saudi Gazette. However, Manikyam, a fisherman from Kanyakumari, India, said that he is leaving for home as “soon as his sponsor approves”. Abu Ali, a fisherman from Qatif, said that the six-month breeding period will help them catch big shrimp which will fetch a good price in the market. “We have started repairing our boat engines, nets and other equipment to get ready for the next season,” he said. According to the government order, shrimp fishing boats cannot venture into the sea during the period of the fishing ban. The Coast Guard has been ordered to crack down on offenders. According to the authorities, the six-month period is to allow shrimp stocks to recover.
