Page 197 - UAE Truncal States_Neat
P. 197

Chapter Five

                  Peninsula was caught alive near Masafi at the head of the Wadi Ham,
                  and presented to London Zoo,15 Its local name could not he verified.
                  Another type of mountain goal, Arabian taher or wa'al (Latin
                  hemitragus jayakari) has been reported to live on the Jabal Halit as
                  well as the Jabal al Akhdar in Oman. Lions used to live in the  area,
                  particularly in the mountains, but have not been reported during the
                  last few hundred years. The shells of ostrich eggs are found
                  occasionally in the desert but it is believed to be some fifty years or
                  more since ostriches have been seen alive.

                  Fishing
                  Between them the seven sheikhdoms have 540 kilometres of
                  coastline. The east coast facing the Gulf of Oman consists of long
                  stretches of sweeping beaches and sandy bays intersected in places
                  where the barren Hajar mountains reach into the sea. A few rocky
                  islands are within sight of the coast. The chief characteristics of the
                  western coast facing the Gulf proper are shallow waters near the
                  shore, islands, sandbanks, lagoons, reefs and tidal channels which
                  rendered much of the coast before the construction of modern
                  harbours inaccessible to all but the people who regularly fished in
                  that area.
                    The fishing potential on both shores is very high. The southern
                  part of the Gulf is particularly productive during September to
                  March, when cooler, less saline and biologically enriched waters
                  from the Indian Ocean penetrate through the Straits of Hormuz for
                  about 160 kilometres along the coast from Ra’s al Khaimah to Dubai.
                  The water brings with it large numbers of pelagic fish such as tuna,
                  bonilo, mackerel, sardines and anchovy.
                    The Gulf of Oman coast is even richer in fish because there is a
                  constant upwelling of water from deep down in the contiguous
                  Indian Ocean which helps the abundant growth of plankton.
                  Fishermen do not need to go out very far to secure a good catch;
                  consequently deep sea fishing has not been developed. Trawling for
                  demersal fish is not so productive because the continental shelf is   f
                  narrow and the grounds are not suitable. For most people in the
                 Trucial States fish has often been almost the only source of protein.
                 There have been fish markets and auctions in most towns and
                 villages on the coast, where fresh fish could be bought by those who   l
                 did not go fishing themselves. But a large amount of fish protein
                 reached the population in the hinterland only in rather inferior sun-

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