70-year-old is Algeria’s only fisherwoman

Seventy-year-old Aisha Hamdi has sailed away from stereotypes providing for herself and her family by working as a fisherwoman in Algeria.

Aisha is the first female in this profession in her homeland. She said she was forced into it because of the “social conditions we were going through, my husband was unable to provide sufficiently by going to sea, we were only able to have seven daughters, so I was forced to go to the middle of the sea in a fishing boat with my husband.”

“The first time I did this I was 43 years old. Working with my husband I learnt the tricks of the trade. After his death I became self-reliant and I transferred this passion to my seven daughters. Now, even though they are married, they come to help me.”

The profession has many dangers in particular high winds which dredge up the waves and make fishing very difficult. “Several nights I have lost my eldest daughter in the high waves. Luck plays a large part in the matter and God blesses us and she returns the following night empty handed,” Aisha says.

Her love for fishing and the sea mean that even when she isn’t working, Aisha takes her boat out into the waters accompanied by her daughter, in summer they go swimming in the middle of the sea.

She’s now sharing her passion with her grandchildren.