Is The 'Cushitic Fish Taboo' Responsible For Somalia's Poor Fishing Industry?

Status
Not open for further replies.
It's silly to claim Somalis would rather starve than eat fish. It's true that in the old days that a stigma was attached to certain occupation which included fishing. But that had more to do with the majority of Somalis earning living through herding goats, cows and camels. Factually speaking a man with a large, healthy flock of goats, cows and camels was richer and had easier life than one who had to go out and catch fish every morning. Catching fish in the old days (before refrigerated trawlers and large industrial freezers) entailed hard work: you can go out fishing but there was no guarantee of a catch.

The low per capita fish consumption is actually a good news. It means there's a huge potential for increasing consumption through better marketing and investment in fisheries.

Look at Iceland a country of only 333,000 people. According to stats, fishing industry accounts about 12% of Iceland's $21B GDP. But that's based on annual sustainable catch of 1.1 million tonnes where as Somalia is estimated to have about 300K sustainable annual catch. This suggests that if Somalia fully maximizes the potential of it's 300K annual catch, it can add an extra $700 million to its GDP. For a country with only $5.8B GDP that's a noticeable change.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Trending

Top