La pêche en Oman à l'ARWA

The tradition of fishing in the eastern Arabian Peninsula has ancient roots, fostered by the region's extensive coastline and rich diversity of marine life. In the early to mid Holocene, the climate was more humid, allowing mangrove forests to grow and establish themselves along the many lagoons present along the Omani coast. Over time, human communities exploited these abundant marine resources using both coastal and open-sea techniques, improving their fishing skills.

In this study, seven coastal sites dating from the 6th to 3rd millennia were studied (over 70,000 fish bones), belonging mainly to teleosts (bony fish) and representing a high biodiversity. Each site presents distinctive characteristics in terms of exploitation of marine habitats and fish species. The Ra's al-Hamra 5 and 6 sites showed a significant presence of pelagic fish and skilful use of the nearby mangroves, in particular with the presence of numerous sardines and juveniles. Ruways 1 and Suwayh 1 highlighted the use of both mangrove and lagoon habitats, with the emphasis on the same juvenile fish, but with the presence of numerous marine catfish and coastal sharks. Further south, Masirah 10 demonstrated a joint exploitation of lagoon and reef fish, while Ra's al-Hadd 5 presented an abundance of parrotfish and other rocky substrate fish, testifying to the importance attached to reef fishing. The "Great [social and cultural] Transformation" of the Bronze Age, during the Hafit period, became evident at Ra's al-Hadd 6, where there was extensive exploitation of pelagic fish, with the significant presence of yellowfin and tuna, signifying a specialization of fisheries on the exploitation of the open sea and the improvement of fishing techniques.

Consequently, three different types of exploitation can be highlighted: mangrove and lagoon exploitation, coastal pelagic fish exploitation and coastal reef exploitation. The diversity of ichthyofaunal biodiversity at these sites indicates not only the exploitation of diverse environments, but also the use of various fishing methods (such as hooks and nets, individual or collective fishing). This suggests that coastal communities knew their environment well and were able to take advantage of it by adapting their fishing strategies and techniques, suggesting a high degree of traditional ecological knowledge, reflecting their adaptability and resourcefulness over time.

This research still has a lot of work to do, and we'll also look at future prospects.