Fishermen bemoan expat control of Jazan market

Jazan's fish market attracts visitors from faraway places who enjoy the skills of local vendors as they display their colorful merchandise on the tables.
The noise in the market starts in the early hours of the morning when fishermen arrive at the docks and disgorge their catch. At the same time, their boat engines roar as they head back to the sea on a fresh fishing trip.
In the past, fishermen used to be locals from the region, but now large numbers of foreigners have taken over the profession, a trade that was the most important source of income and economic prosperity for the area’s indigenous population.
Nowadays, the original dwellers are a minority, said Hassan Khudari, a Saudi fisherman who’s an oddity among the masses of foreign workers operating in the market.
“Foreigners now make up twice the number of Saudis in the fish market and they have totally taken control of it,” Khudari said. “This is one of the many issues we face here. The other problem is the abundance of imported fish that’s making the prices of our local fish very low,” he explained.