ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the patterns of access to, control and ownership of resources among an itinerant coastal population in the region of the Persian Gulf. According to statistics published by the Sultanate of Oman in 1981, the annual catch was 60,000 tons and it was estimated that the catch could be raised to 600,000 tons by supporting and modernising the fishery system. The date production is excellent in terms of quality and quantity, and dates are exported to other Arab countries of the Persian Gulf and to Pakistan. Iran is a country with two coasts, and it is rather surprising that apart from some statistical material on the role of fish in Iranian food consumption patterns, there is little ethnographic material on the fishery system in the country and on the communities dependent on fishing. Trade is related to visits of relatives in the neighbouring countries and it is difficult to determine how time-consuming this activity is.
