A fisherman at the corner of fancy Qurum

Now a part of the modern sprawl in the capital city of Muscat, Qurum originally was a small fishing village tucked away between mangroves, sea and mountains. Today, Qurum boasts luxury beach front hotels, modern cafes and high-end residences that attracting thousands of visitors both local and foreigners every day. Although Qurum is now considered as a fancy part of town, seen every evening, is an old man in traditional Omani dishdasha selling his fresh catch of the day next to the ruins of a foot bridge, a reminder of the connection between the Arabian Sea and Qurum, meaning mangroves. For generations, Nasir and his family have been living in the area since it was a small fishing village and till this day, he and his family still reside in Qurum. Nasir Saif Said, now in his 60s, has been a fisherman for over 30 years following the legacy of his father and grandfather. With the fishing industry taking a back bench in the economy after the discovery of oil, Nasir’s children and the other boys in the family have taken up more mainstream jobs still making time for him daily in an effort to support their family business and keeping in touch with their fishermen roots. Nasir is passionate about his business and working extremely hard even at this age. His day starts before dawn where he sets sail into the Arabian sea to catch various fish like tuna, shari, kingfish, sardines and even sharks that are popular among the locals. His morning catch is taken by sellers straight to the main fish market in Muttrah. He then sets sail again in the afternoon coming back to shore after sun set. His evening catch is sold directly from the beach and his popularity is visible from the crowds that wait and flock to him once he settles down with his catches of the day. Nasir and his family are avid fishermen who work hard to maintain their business that has been around since the 70s. Nasir shared how fishing has come a long way from the manually steered boats to the now motorised ones with better equipment making fishing easier than the older days. He proudly spoke about his family, his heritage and showed off his father’s boat that is still docked at the beach as a symbolic reminder of their heritage. They proudly called themselves The Qurum Fisherman. Titash Chakraborty