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Accepted Paper:

Fishing in the Persian/Arabian Gulf: The Benefits of Mediocrity  
Noah Haiduc-Dale (Centenary University, NJ)

Paper short abstract:

Before oil, the Persian/Arabian Gulf had few exploitable resources on land or in the sea. The dearth of large numbers of fish meant little interference for coastal communities that maintained relative freedom of political control as a result.

Paper long abstract:

The Persian/Arabian Gulf was uniquely resource poor prior to international oil market of the 20th Century. My paper explores how coastal residents accessed available resources by using locally successful technologies to survive in the hostile environment. European visitors often described the coast as dotted with fishing villages, but little research has been done to explain how such villages functioned.

Unlike fertile oceans, the region's high temperatures and a watershed with very little rain means high salinity and water temperatures. This, in turn, creates a marine environment for many species of fish but few with numbers justifying imperial interest. Thus, while the Ottoman Empire strictly controlled fishing in Istanbul and the Nile Valley, Gulf residents had less oversight. Moreover, since fish were a staple of the Gulf diet, difficult fishing conditions helped keep coastal populations small.

In addition to the unique marine environment, the lack of trees on the coast limited the number of smaller vessels available to local residents. Wood came from the Malibar coast for construction in Kuwait and Bahrain, but boats were used for trade and pearl diving, not fishing. Thus, most fishing was done from shore using a variety of traps made from local materials.

Mediocre fishing resources made it difficult to thrive economically from fishing alone, but there were other benefits. Because the basic source of sustenance for most people came from the sea and did not require any infrastructure, it was easy to simply find a new shoreline if a local leader made unreasonable demands.

Panel P21
Historical uses of the ocean and shores: natural resources and patterns of exploitation
  Session 1