Gaza fisherman battles poverty with plastic bottle boat

Hundreds of empty plastic bottles have been collected from the Rafah coast south of the Gaza Strip, and fisherman MUAs Abu Zayed has turned garbage into a floating source of income.
Father of Palestineof-
Four people tied the bottle to a small fishing boat with glue and old nets, hoping to help him support his family.
700-simple but effective
According to its 35-bottle process, it can carry up to 8 people to sea. year-old skipper.
A wide board tied to the top serves as a seat, allowing Abu Zeid to row hundreds of meters from the shore --
Enough to go fishing.
It took him about eight hours to go from five to seven kilograms (11 to 15 pounds)
Sardines, black fish and other small fish are caught in the rod.
He sold his catch to passers-by on the nearby niche Road, about 20 to 40 shekels ($5-11, 4-9 euros)a day.
Two brothers of multh
Mohammed, 23, and Ashraf, 20
Go hiking with him every day.
Can\'t find a job anywhere else.
\"I am a house painter, but I am out of work due to difficult circumstances,\" said Captain Muath, a descendant of refugees from a village near Jaffa at present --day Israel.
\"So this ship is a life-saving straw for me and my family.
According to World Bank data in 2017, under Israel\'s severe blockade for more than a decade, the unemployment rate in Gaza reached 44%, and the unemployment rate among young people reached an alarming 60%.
The power crisis in the coastal enclave means that sewage is often discharged directly into the sea, resulting in 40 km25-mile)
Seriously polluted coastline
However, many people in Gaza rely on fishing for their livelihood, although Israel has imposed a nine-mile fishing zone in the south of the enclave and only six nautical miles in the north near Israel.
Muath found the boat\'s idea on YouTube, where he saw amateurs design boats with plastic bottles discarded by vacationers on the beach.
\"I appreciate the idea and say to myself, why not protect the environment and create life for me and my family?
\"That\'s what happened,\" he said . \".
The ship borrowed about $150 from his father.
He hopes to get fishing nets soon, \"so I can pull more fish, sell them and live a decent life \".
The ship is fragile and he is surrounded by the border with neighboring Egypt, but he says there are a lot of fish waiting to be caught in the waters along the border.