Waleed the Fisherman

Waleed Abdel-Rahman is a fisherman from the Yemeni coastal city of Mocha. Waleed has always considered the sea as a friend with whom he’s shared his life for the past 18 years. Waleed began working as a fisherman at the age of 15, and for most of his life, the work has enabled him to support his three daughters and his son.

In addition to providing him with fish, the sea also gave him another gift in the form of “ambergris" – a multi-purpose waxy material that can be found floating at sea and washed up along the shore. When he began selling ambergris, the extra money Waleed earned allowed him to buy his own boat and a motor, and his life started to change for the better.

But tough times were ahead for Waleed.  Most fishing activities stopped four years ago due to the ongoing conflict in Yemen, and he had to try to find other kinds of work to provide for his family, often far from his home.

“We are no longer able to reach the old fishing grounds,” he explains. “I am not the only one who suffers from this crisis; the conditions here have caused difficulties for all of us who depend on fishing for our livelihoods.”

Waleed hopes that the Mocha coastline will reopen soon so that he and all the other fishermen can go back to practicing their lifelong trade close to their homes and families. 

The King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief) works in partnership with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) through its Livelihoods Improvement Program to rehabilitate and reopen fisheries, helping vulnerable communities along the Yemeni coast to regain their livelihoods.