For years, the waters of the Red Sea were an economic lifeline for thousands of Yemeni families. Today, those same waters have turned into a floating minefield. Houthi attacks not only threaten global supply chains; they strike at the very heart of the livelihoods of Yemen’s most vulnerable communities.

On a routine fishing trip off the coast of Al-Khokha in western Yemen, fisherman Abdullah spotted a strange metallic object with protruding horns floating atop the blue waves.

At first, he thought it was debris that had fallen from a commercial vessel. But his boatmate shouted that it was a naval mine.

Abdullah, who asked to be identified by his first name only, said: “My colleague told me that getting close meant death. The Houthis have planted hundreds of them. They make no distinction between a military ship and a rickety wooden fishing boat.”

A forgotten harvest of death

While global attention focuses on ballistic missiles targeting massive cargo vessels, fishermen’s associations in Hodeidah governorate are documenting a silent catastrophe: the deaths of hundreds of fishermen and the destruction of hundreds of their boats.

Yemeni human rights groups’ estimates indicate that the total number of fishermen killed or injured has exceeded 450 since the militia expanded its deployment of naval mines, in addition to the destruction of hundreds of boats—the sole capital of these families.

In 2025........

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