Fujairah fishermen celebrate large haul of squid

Fishermen in Fujairah have caught a huge haul of squid while they were chasing barracuda. Courtesy Fishermen Association

FUJAIRAH // Fishermen in Fujairah are celebrating an unusually haul of large squid, which is being attributed to tighter fishing regulations.

Some said it was the first time in many years that such numbers of squid had been seen in east coast waters. They were mostly caught accidentally as the men fished for barracuda.

“It’s the barracuda fishing season and fishermen sail for about 10 to 15 nautical miles to find that kind of fish. Many of us were surprised after catching these huge squid while fishing for barracuda,” said Salem Obaid, 45.

“I have never seen such big squid in the area. I took some of them home and they were delicious. The ones we used to catch were so small but these are much bigger, some reaching 7 kilos.”

The head of Dibba Fishermen Association said that the appearance of such huge squid was a result of the new fishing laws.

“The new fishing rules helped keep such species from being fished while they were small and allowed them to become bigger,” said Suleiman Al Khuddam.

“When the ministry changed the size of the fishing net holes, fishermen couldn’t catch the small size squid any more and that helped to keep them alive until they became bigger.”

Mr Obaid said one fisherman caught about 150 squid in a day.

“They are available in high quantities and all the fishermen had their share of fishing and were financially rewarded,” he said.

The squid were sold to the market for Dh25 to Dh30 each.

Salah Abdullah, head of Khor Fakkan Fishermen Association, said its fishermen were catching between 80 and 150 squid a day.

“We have about 150 active fishermen and each one sold about 8 to 15 box weight, about 40 kilos,” he said.

Because of the number of squid being caught, prices at market dropped from Dh80 a piece last month to a maximum of Dh30.