(ERGO) – Mohamed Adan Ali and his family of nine have been living off relatives in the northeastern coastal village of Dhinowda, Mudug region, for the past few months because he is too scared to go back to his life as a fisherman after a horrific attack by a foreign trawler.
Mohamed is one of 460 Somali fishermen put out of work by the continued violent onslaught against local boats by bigger foreign vessels in this part of Somalia’s coastline.
On the night of 21 February, Mohamed was out at sea with three colleagues in two small boats. They were about five miles off shore and were busy casting their nets when they noticed a boat coming towards them at high speed.
“We tried to flash our lights at them but they kept moving towards us, we were forced to jump into the sea. After they passed I found two of my colleagues but couldn’t find the other. We are not sure if the boat’s impact killed him, or if he survived,” Mohamed told Radio Ergo.
They spent two hours searching for 35-year old Shakir Abdullahi Ahmed in the dark water but eventually had to give up.
Mohamed, who has been a fisherman for 13 years, is one of 460 fishermen put out of work over the past couple of months because of fear resulting from the attacks by unidentified large fishing boats.
He used to earn a comfortable living of around 700,000 Somali shillings a week ($25). He does not have other skills and there are few job opportunities in his village.
Duuna Mohamed Adan, head of the fishermen’s association covering Dhinowda, Gal-hagoog and El-Dhanane areas east of Galkayo, said 40 fishing families had just packed up and left for the rural areas of Mudug, where they now live with their pastoralist relatives recovering from three years of drought.
Duuna said the violent attacks on local fisherman had escalated, with 15 boats destroyed and 40 fishing nets seized or lost.
