BY MAHYOUB AL-KAMALI
YEMEN TIMES STAFF
The Third Arab Conference on Sea Fishery was held in Sana'a Oct. 28 to 30 to find ways to protect fish wealth, exchange expertise and experiment in new ways of marketing Arab fish.
The conference comes at a time when the coasts of the governorate of Hadramout are seeing ecological catastrophe caused by oil slicks leaked from the French oil tanker Limburg, attacked on October 6. The conference has represented an opportunity for the participating delegations to be acquainted with what Yemeni waters preserve of fish reservoirs and investment opportunities available for the private sector. What has been eye-catching is the interest shown by the UN organization FAW in the conference through its regional bureau in Morocco and the centre of marketing information and consultative services for fish products in the Arab region (infosamak).
The Yemen Times has got a copy of the Commercial Bulletin issued by infosamak centre. The bulletin contains a valuable report on fish sector in Yemen that possesses more than 150 islands, some of which are populated.
Yemeni coasts length is about 2112 aerial km. Slopes and mountainous and sand terrain as well as slopes of valleys heading for the sea reach to 20% of the coast length. Thus the length of the coastal strip is more than 2500 km.
The number of villages and fishermen groupings along the shores and islands amounts to more than 90 villages and centers. The number of fishermen reaches to 41 thousand and the member of their families is estimated at 243 thousand people. The fishermen own more than 15 thousand fishing boats of various sizes and types.
Statistics point out that the total amounts of fish and marine life caught in 2000 amounted to 147 thousand tons, 92 thousand tons caught by traditional fishermen (79%), and about 23 thousand tons by using industrial fishing boats.
Infosamak report has indicated that the fish sector in Yemen is one of income making sector for its contribution to domestic product and an essential source for creating revenues, as it has occupied the second place on the list containing 30 more important exported Yemeni commodities. The fish sector is also a source of income for more than 350 thousand persons benefiting from job opportunities in this field and also for realizing the value added through activities related to services, production and marketing.
Fish wealth exploitation in Yemen is managed by two main sectors, namely, that of traditional fishermen grouped within fish societies, whose production constitutes about 79% of total annual fishing. The second sector is managed by local and foreign fishing companies for industrial and commercial fishing using big fishing boats, and this constitutes 21% of total annual fishing. A research centre for sea sciences and resources has been found in 1983 to conduct studies on fish reservoir, sea sciences and sea ecology in Yemeni regional waters. The centre researches and studies serve to help increase local production and exports. The centre conducts the following activities:
- drawing up short and long-term policies for setting up executive programs for studies and surveys,
- preparation of researches on breeding and culture of fish from selected species,
-preparation of studies on different ecological circumstances surrounding fish and marine life reproduction,
-conducting studies on sea pollution both concerning kinds and sources.
Studies have confirmed that there are more than 350 species of fish and marine life in Yemeni waters, around 60 types are being utilized. Also, there is a possibility of catching about 320 tons of bottom and surface fish and marine life.
The Yemeni government has adopted a fourth project for developing fish and most important of its phases is the building of ice factories, stores for preservation, fish auction sale halls, warehouses, offices, power generators in the cities of Hadramout and Mahrah. In addition, there is a project for improving quality of fish products and modernizing the central laboratory for watching quality of fish. The program on watching quality pays much heed for good quality of fish products and preserves their reputation abroad according to world specifications and standards. The program conducts this through the central laboratory and its affiliate centers in other governorates.
Recommendations
The conference came out with significant recommendations calling for Arab cooperation in sea fishery and working for the increase in exchange of information and expertise, besides enhancement of private sector role for investments in this vital sector. The conference also stressed the importance of developing means of fish culture and exchange of information in this respect. It urged supporting Yemen in its effort for cleaning Hadramout coasts from pollution resulted from the Limburg incident on 6 October.

YEMEN TIMES STAFF
Despite tight household budgets, Yemeni families are happily welcoming the Holy Month of Ramadhan, a time known for people's generosity and tolerance.
Worship and its spiritual values are deeply rooted in the Yemeni people's ideology, as is the case with all Arab and Muslim peoples.
Amid the process of welcoming the month of Ramadhan, the people of cities and villages, as it is customary every year, rushed to markets to buy foods, spices, desserts and various kinds of frankincense, and all necessaries for evening entertainment and lighting equipment, especially in the countryside where a big portion of the population experiences shortage of electricity.
For tradesmen, Ramadhan is the season of annual profits. In the final week of the month of Sha'aban, which precedes Ramadhan, tradesmen introduce a high-pricing process to their goods as they perceive it's an opportune time for gaining profits to compensate for the economic depression prevailing local markets throughout most of the year.
Big businessmen and tradesmen use the time of Ramadhan to increase their profits. They hold consumer exhibitions for domestic and imported products under pretext of reducing their prices for the sake of poor families.
The consumer, in fact, realizes well that those exhibitions are meant for strengthening business activities aimed at securing high rates of profits at the expense of values of this sacred month.
In the case of small businesses, there are different methods to follow for marketing their goods in consumer markets. Beside fixed businesses, they would establish branch businesses in open air marketplaces with the aim of promoting their goods. This is accompanied with raising prices of their retail sale goods.
During the month of Ramadhan, some people in banking prefer to take vacations from their offices for business activities, thinking that will help them get higher profits than banking activity, which usually slows down during this month.
People in the countryside are usually not affected as much by rise of consumer goods because they breed sheep, cattle and poultry that provide them with meat and dairy products they need for Ramadhan.
In urban areas, people exercise their official jobs, except for judiciary, because they have electrical service and other facilities. People in urban area spend time watching TV. programs, including competitions usually held during the month of Ramadhan.

The Road Ahead
BY RAIDAN A. AL-SAQQAF
r_saqqaf@hotmail.com
Everyday businesses carry out their daily routines and operations following the same old patterns. But a business organization, in order to break through, needs to be creative, not only with its advertising, packaging and product development, but in every single issue. All things discussed and handled in the organization need to have a fair amount of creativity and innovation. Otherwise there will be no progress and harmful patterns will repeat forever. This is why managers should include thinking out of the box, or creative thinking, everyday.
To be creative, first you need to adopt three key factors to help in the process. They are motivation, attitude and focus. Motivation in the sense of curiosity and looking for new alternatives that work, alternatives that go far beyond the obvious ones. Attitude should be based on the belief that creative thinking can make a difference, and that includes the willingness to make an effort to create new possibilities. And then focus on the task of creativity.
Focus need not be limited to issues that are not problems, but also areas of improvements. For example a different sector of the organization can help in generating ideas for a problem elsewhere if enough focus and attention is given to the problem. Consider you are a music producer who is facing harsh competition. This is a problem. Now try looking at different departments in your organization and try to relate how improving them can help improve sales.
The archives for example. Now focus on the problem "tough competition" and the sector "archives" and try to relate. You might think of a creative solution for your problem; select a number of your best, all-times classics and out of these create and sell a favored collectors pack, and in turn create a competitive advantage for your company.
There are also a few tips that help in creative thinking, such as keeping a separate idea notebook to jot down any new or creative ideas that might occur in your mind anyplace anytime. Or the random-word technique that means selecting a random word and try to make use of it. For example: coffee! Coffee mug? Coffee's smell? Coffee maker? And morning coffee? This to making use of words to create a new concept. Doesn't the coffee's smell remind you about coffee-drink? Then how about inventing a new alarm clock that along with ringing produces the coffee's fragrance to remind you to make your coffee? This is what thinking out of the box is all about.

Endnote: Thinking out of the box requires one to train: through motivating oneself, having the right attitude and focusing on the issue. A few techniques can also help in the process.