(ERGO) – Fishermen in the coastal town of Hafun, in north-eastern Bari region of Somalia, are back out at sea after receiving some new equipment to replace what they lost in last December’s cyclone Gati.
Musa Ali Qaal, among 140 fishermen, was given a motor, a fishing net and a refrigerator by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in late February. He attached the motor to one of his boats that survived the storm.
“We were just sitting idle, but now that we have been given the equipment, we went back to our jobs,” he said. “I am making between $2.5 to $3 a day, which is enough to sustain my family for the day.”
However, with the small motor worth $2,800, Musa is finding it hard to match his previous earnings of $70 a week.
“The motor I had was a bigger one that could take me 30-40 miles out to sea. I earned well with it, but this one can’t get me beyond seven miles,” said Musa, who has a family of 10.
Two of Musa’s children have gone back to Hafun primary school, which reopened a week ago after the cyclone damage was repaired.
Some of the fishermen have joined together to make better use of the equipment they were given. Abshir Mohamud Sheikh, who was given a motor and a fishing net, partnered with about 10 men fishing with a renovated boat. They divide the money they make among themselves weekly.
Abshir noted that while he was grounded by the cyclone damage, his family relied on $100 a month sent by his sister abroad. The money did not go beyond the family’s food expense.
His biggest expense is education fees for one of his sons in secondary school and another in university. He is aiming to pay off the $30 he owes the school for the past two months’ fees. The university semester fees are also due soon.
Puntland Ministry of Fishing appointed the Hafun Fisheries Committee to identify those who lost their equipment in the cyclone. Kamal Abdi Mohamed, the chairman of the committee, told Radio Ergo that 600 fishermen were affected by Gati, with 400 of them left in a dire situation.
“It will take them time to make the profits they used to make. Some of these people have lost everything they had to the cyclone and they need our help,” said Kamal.
He said the ministry and FAO have promised a second round of equipment donations. He added that any effort to support the fishermen would play a key role in the town’s recovery, as most families in Hafun depend on fishing for a living and have felt the financial burden caused by cyclone Gati.
