Page 144 - Truncal States to UAE_Neat

Administering a Tribal Society

dates from Basra. Bui whether there were proper shipping docu­
ments or not, the range of imported goods was, even after the Second
World War, so limited, and the selling price of each item was so well
known to everyone that the customs official had little difficulty in
establishing the correct amount of duties to be paid in almost every
case. During the later 1950s, when the oil companies started to import
goods which were never previously seen in the Trucial States, such
shipments were accompanied by formal documentation. Equipment
for the oil industry was imported free of customs duties.
Export duties were not normally collected anywhere on the Trucial
Coast, but when a German firm, Robert Woenckhaus and Co., sent a
representative to Dalma in 1899 who wanted to export oyster shells,
he was refused residence there until he had obtained permission
from the Ruler in Abu Dhabi. He was then allowed to export shells
after agreeing to pay 13 M.T. dollars per 100 sacks.80

Reservation of rights
There were many good fishing areas along the coastline of the Trucial
States and among the many islands, but fishing along much of the
coastline was restricted by a system of licences. These licences were
issued by the Rulers and were an additional source of revenue; to pro­
tect this revenue the Ruler had to be able on the one hand to enforce
the collection of annual rents and on the other hand to protect the
fishermen from poachers.
In the case of Abu Dhabi, examples can be found of individuals
who held the fishing rights for as far along the coast as from Khaur al
'Udaid to Hamra* (about 100 kilometres), which included four
islands. Most such concessions were taken by the Rumaithat.09 The
holder of fishing rights might allow other tribesmen to fish off his
shores but he could demand one fifth of their catch in payment. There
was no tax on fish caught or on the sale of fish.
The collection of almost any saleable commodity found on the land
or in the sea within the jurisdiction of the Ruler could be subject to
licensing. Examples are guano, dried sharks and turtles, oyster shells
and red oxide.90 It was thus recognised that the Ruler had the right to
issue such licences and himself to benefit financially from them.
Therefore, when the oil companies came to negotiate concessions it
was consistent with previous practice that they should sign agree­
ments with the Ruler in which all royalties and taxes would be
payable to him. f

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