Fishing, once upon a time - in Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi - Just like his father and grandfather before him, Al Mazrouei has been a fisherman all his life.

This time 50 years ago, Mohammed Saber Al Mazrouei was going on his first, long distance fishing trip. He was only 12 years old back then, the youngest "sailor" on the dhow.
"I was accompanying my father and I was very excited. I'd been out fishing with him before, but this was the first time to go out for several weeks," remembered Al Mazrouei.
"I can't remember how many men were with us, but we were quite a few on this traditional sailing wooden boat. Of course, we had no motorised boats back then," he went on.
Just like his father and grandfather before him, Al Mazrouei has been a fisherman all his life. Unless the Arabian Gulf on the Abu Dhabi coast, his home, was very rough, he would go out pretty much every morning for his daily catch.
Back in the old days he would use just a line, no rod, with bait at one end to catch local favourites - hamour and shery - that were plentiful then, but now highly endangered due to commercial overfishing. Some of the fish his family would prepare fresh, but some was preserved especially for their desert trips.
"We preserved them in salt and it could last for months. First we would clean the fish inside and out, then salt it a bit and leave it to dry out in the sun for three to four days. This will drain out all the water in the fish. Then we cover it in salt and spices and leave it for a while for the fish to absorb all the flavours of the spices," explained Al Mazrouei.
This type of salted dry fish is known locally as maleh. It can be consumed as it is or it can be used in cooking, particularly rice dishes and stews. Once a necessity, maleh nowadays has become a local delicacy and in some markets it may cost as high as Dh400 for a pack of 10kg.
Al Mazrouei himself, no longer makes maleh, but his family buys it from the market. Nor does he go on long fishing journeys, as he used to.
"When I was younger I used to go on fishing trips that would take up to six months when we sailed up to Somalia, in Africa; we had to wait for the right sea currents to sail back," he said.
"My forefathers too used to go on long sea journeys that would also last for up to six months when they were diving for pearls," added Al Mazrouei, bringing out a map to show the marked oyster beds in the Arabian Gulf.
"They would use this 'iftam' made of turtle shells to close off their nose while diving and tie this stone 'hasaa' on their leg to help them dive and put this 'diin' basket around their neck to collect the oysters in."
Diving may have stopped in the Gulf in the 1930s, but Al Mazrouei has kept all the tools that belonged to his grandfather and displays them at Emirati heritage festivals. This he does along with his fishing equipment. He is only too happy to pass on his knowledge and his stories to the young generation.
silvia@khaleejtimes.com