AMCHIT, Lebanon — Amchit’s harbor bustles with activity on a sunny January morning, one of the first in more than three weeks. A group of 16 youths from the coastal village of Bnine, in Akkar district, one of Lebanon’s poorest regions, gathers at the docks, where a long wooden boat is tied up. Divided into two groups, one prepares to set sail, the other to learn the art of knot-tying. The first group, smiling and singing, rushes to the boat, unable to hide their excitement. Captain Jeannot, otherwise known as Jean Saad, welcomes the youths, led by fisher Solange Sfeir, on board the Coco. Greeting them warmly, Sfeir hands each trainee a fishing rod, a large black bucket, and a hat to prevent sunstroke. Sitting on two benches, the young men and women observe all Sfeir’s movements and listen carefully to their trainer for the day. The fisher holds a disassembled fishing rod. “What is the name of this part?” she asks. “Reel!” the group answers enthusiastically. She smiles, pleased by how well her students remember their lessons from the two-day classroom session they’ve already done. In it, these young people learned about the sea, the species of fish and their sizes, the fishing seasons, and everything else a fisher should know. Today, they will put this into practice: learning how to fish at sea and tie knots the correct way. This training is part of a program created by the Lebanese NGO Friends of Nature that aims to train…This article was originally published on Mongabay
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