This picture of newly constructed “chalets” on the Busaiteen coast in Bahrain was taken through the rear view mirror as I finished a regular “photo shoot” of the sunset. The area is very popular with Bahrainis and expatriates who take advantage of the several kilometers long coastline to picnic, play football and cricket or just take a walk along the beach, looking at the extremely colourful fishermen huts and the temporary jetties on the way.
A traditional fishing dhow pictured through a steel-wired fishing trap it carries to grab the catch for the day. Scores of such dhows sail every morning and evening from several of Bahrain’s fishing harbours to stock the country’s fish markets. These dhows, manned by a crew of mainly Indian and Bangladeshi fishermen, are sometimes at sea for several day working on meager wages and tough conditions.
I came across this floating pile of garbage during a visit to the Sitra Fishing Harbour. Sad to see so much plastic, rubber and other materials piled on at the otherwise neat-looking and well-designed facility, one among the may such places built for the benefit of Bahrain’s fishermen.
Authorities and fishermen end up blaming each other for the mess, claiming the other is responsible for the clean-up but the result is the rot keeps getting bigger.
Someone, environmentalists included, has to step in and do a rescue act!
These fishermen, when not out at sea, are busy repairing damaged fishing traps and building new ones at the harbour. Fishing, a popular occupation in Bahrain, has of late been in the news after some fishermen, most of them Indian nationals, were detained in Qatar for straying into that country’s territorial waters.
Though fishing continues throughout the year, shrimping is banned for four months, from the middle of March.
MANDEEPSINGS 