- Title: Palestinian farmer says fish farming hobby hit hard by pandemic
- Date: 5th October 2020
- Summary: YATTA, WEST BANK (OCTOBER 1, 2020) (REUTERS) PALESTINIAN FARMER, MURAD ABU ARAM, FEEDING FISH AT FARM VARIOUS OF FISH SWIMMING IN POND ABU ARAM PULLING ON FISHING NET FISH CAUGHT ON FISHING NET VARIOUS OF ABU ARAM SITTING ON SURFBOARD BY FISHING NET TO COLLECT FISH ABU ARAM HOLDING TWO FISH IN WHILE SITTING ON BOARD (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) PALESTINIAN FARMER, MURAD ABU ARAM, SAYING: "We are afraid of losing the fish, we are afraid of losing our gardening project. We are exhausted, financially, especially from plantation. Instead of gaining profit, we used all (the money) we had and added debt to that, due to coronavirus. We stopped harvesting cucumbers. We uprooted the cucumber plants from the pots." FARMING PLOT OF LAND BEING WATERED ABU ARAM ADJUSTING WATER SPRINKLERS VARIOUS OF ABU ARAM WORKING AT FARM ABU ARAM PICKING TOMATOES VARIOUS OF ABU ARAM WORKING AT CUCUMBER PLANTS (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) PALESTINIAN FARMER, MURAD ABU ARAM, SAYING: "If we were a mountain we would have broke down, we do not have money, we do not have anything. At the first phase, we planted all kinds of vegetables and all was well, and we though that this season will be good, this season came and broke us down, we have nothing. Fish like these should be fed every day with a black bucket full of food. I cannot feed it that, not even once a week, not even once a month. I don't have any money." ABU ARAM JUMPING IN POND ABU ARAM FLOATING AROUND IN POND ABU ARAM AND TWO YOUNG MEN LAYING DOWN ON SURFBOARDS IN POND (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) PALESTINIAN FARMER, MURAD ABU ARAM, SAYING: "I wish that I could get help from outside, help on how to manage the fish farm. I have my land, I have my water, I just want guidance on how to farm these fish in separate pools. I want to have the edible ones separate from the pet fish, in a way where the project can grow." ABU ARAM TAKING OUT FISH FROM BUCKET VARIOUS OF ABU ARAM HOLDING FISH IN HIS HANDS YATTA, WEST BANK (OCTOBER 1, 2020) (REUTERS) (MUTE) DRONE FOOTAGE OF ABU ARAM ON SURFBOARD IN POND
- Embargoed: 19th October 2020 12:41
- Keywords: COVID-19 Coroanvirus Farmer Fish Fish fram Fishing Hebron
- Location: YATTA, HEBRON, WEST BANK
- City: YATTA, HEBRON, WEST BANK
- Country: Palestinian Territories
- Topics: Human-Led Feature,Human-Led Stories,Middle East
- Reuters ID: LVA001CYUOTAT
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: On a surfboard inside a man-made pond, Palestinian farmer Murad abu Aram paddled around to check up on his fish, worried about the fate of his produce amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Abu Aram had developed his hobby of breeding fish in his hometown Yatta near the occupied West Bank city of Hebron. He started with around 600 fish, and now breeds nearly 15,000 ones.
His hobby started when his vegetable farming business was flourishing, and he was able to spend some time and money to breed fish. Instead of an aquarium, he built a pond.
There, he spends his time feeding his fish and teaching the young in his family how to swim.
But this changed with the coronavirus outbreak in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, and specifically in Hebron where the lockdown shut down markets in which he sold his vegetables.
Abu Aram had to harvest and pile the produce in storage until the vegetables withered and were discarded, leaving him with major financial problems and a lack of much-needed income to feed his fish.
He breeds both edible and pet fish, but they are not yet up for sale as he is yet to register his business with the health ministry. He only cooks fish for his family.
The lockdown had been partially eased in the West Bank. The Palestinian Ministry of health announced that the total number of infections reached 52,433 cases including 391 deaths in the occupied territories.
(Production: Yosri al Jamal, Mustafa Abu Ganeyeh, Nuha Sharaf) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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