The Maritime Traditions of the Fishermen of Socotra, Yemen

The Socotra archipelago lies approximately 135 nautical miles (Nm) northeast of Cape Guardafui, Somalia and 205Nm south of Rās Fartaq, Yemen. The archipelago is made up of four main islands, Socotra, cAbd al-Kūri, Samḥa and Darsa, of which Socotra is the largest and most densely populated. The population of Socotra is divided between the interior pastoralists and the coastal fishermen and traders. While scholarly studies concerning the interior population abound, the fishermen of Socotra have received comparatively less attention and little about them or their traditions is known. This research seeks to address this balance by analysing the Socotri maritime traditions and addressing the question as to how social, environmental and technological influences have shaped the maritime traditions of the fishermen of Socotra. The primary data forming the basis of this book is author’s ethnographic fieldwork carried out on the islands of Socotra and Samḥa between 2009 and 2010. This data is incorporated within a transdisciplinary framework that looks at some of the essential factors of historical, archaeological and environmental evidence to gain a holistic insight into the spatial and temporal factors affecting the maritime traditions of the fishermen.