Sting Ray
While not usually used for food, sting-rays, sharks, and skates are important to the fishing industry itself. The livers are harvested by specialists in the village who boil them down to make a thick, malodorous oil.
Hawkes Bay Balochistan Slides
Crabs in Basket
Crabs and other crustaceans are caught and used as a minor food item. These animals are considered extremely "hot" and are eaten for the treatment of ailments such as the flu or colds.
Knitting Net
Mornings are usually spent fishing while afternoons are spent repairing nets. Although most nets are now commercially manufactured, repair work is down by the owners or their sons. Fishermen work in groups, either helping each other are larger nets.
Fisherman with net
The main fish protein source focuses on smaller fish that are caught in the inshore area. One of the main methods used to catch these is a casting net.
Boy with inshore gill net
Other fish are used for commercial sale, but these inshore fisheries provide the bulk of food for the household. Here a younger member of a local household is pulling up his inshore fixed gill net.
Man with Fish head
Today large fish are primarily for sale on the commercial market. A fishmonger would arrive from town to purchase the fish and take them to the various urban markets in town.
Preparing a fish to be dried and salted
In the fishing village, fish are prepared for drying. The heads and gills are removed and the fish is split up the middle along its belly. Slits are cut into the meat and salt is spread in to help the drying process.
Fish in brine pit
Medium and large fish are then placed into a brine pit and soak up salty brine before being placed in the sun. The meat is not usually used for human consumption, although it is traded into the interiors of Baluchistan and Sindh Provinces.
Sua fish bone
Through the study of butchery and fishing practices, it is possible to reconstruct behaviors that occurred in the past.
Sunset over Hawkes Bay
Fishing and trolling often continues up until sunset. I would like to thank the various fisherfolk in Baluchistan, Sindh and Punjab provinces that have allowed me to intrude in their lives.