South Lebanon’s fishermen rejoiced after they came back to shore with nets full of valuable fish, some of which made their way into the Mediterranean Sea from Israeli fish farms.
Thank God, after [storm] Yohan and its waves prevented us from sailing, we sailed yesterday night and our nets caught a great harvest of fish, Fishermann Ibrahim Bawji said after parking his little boat on Tyre’s shore.
Yohan was the name of the storm that battered Lebanon last week and caused significant damage to coastal properties.
The fishermen caught more than 1000 kilograms of fish known in Lebanese Arabic as Ejaj in the southern Lebanese waters.
The valuable fish is only found in artificial fish farms along the Israeli and Turkish coasts.
Amazed by the large catch, fish vendors took advantage of the five-day lull in fish supply to demand high prices, especially for the rare Ejaj.
Every ratel -a box carrying around 3 kilograms- of Ejaj, was priced at 40,000 LL before being reduced to 30,000 LL due to purchasers’ discontent.
This fish is from the Palestinian land that the Zionists took over, and it belongs to us, Abou Shawqi, a local fish vendor, said as he waved one with a proud smile.
2015 The Daily Star