ALEXANDRIA - The drainage canal that runs through the quiet fishing village of el-Max, about seven kilometres west of Alexandria on the Mediterranean Coast, is making the lives of the unassuming community there even more difficult. The canal used to receive agricultural drainage water, but today the sewage of the entire city of Alexandria is directed into the canal. The detestable odour is unbearable, but the fact that the villagers' livelihoods depend on fishing makes it inconceivable for them to leave their homes. According to Ibrahim Moussa, a middle-aged fisherman, who has spent all his life in el-Max, the polluted canal is the cause of many diseases. He recalls how the canal itself used to be a good habitat for fish, but today the canal is nothing but a constant source of contamination. He wishes that the Ministry of the Environment would put el- Max, which suffers a number of environmental problems, at the head of its priorities. The modest houses of el-Max with their distinctive coloured facades are clustered on the two sides of a watercourse (el-Khandaq canal which stretches from Lake Marriut to the Mediterranean). The village theoretically presents a fine landscape that seems a miniature of an Italian Mediterranean resort and fishing port. But the reality of this fishing community is far from the convenient life of the Mediterranean Italians. The homes of el-Max extend to a distance of l.5 kilometres in length with a unique architecturally aspect in that all buildings overlook the sea. The attention of passers-by on their way to the formerly exclusive resort of Al-Agami is usually attracted to the small colourful fishing boats that are anchored or on their way back from a fishing trip. Fishermen are usually seen in their boats sewing their nets getting ready for a new day. Fishing in el-Max is an occupation that is passed down from father to son and the boats represent a family inheritance. The fishermen of el-Max live a day-to-day life, in which co-operation and solidarity are main traits by virtue of the perils they experience at sea. Amm Saeed is an elderly fisherman who starts his day as early as three o'clock in the morning. He makes daily excursions to the sea in the hope of coming home with a big catch. Amm Saeed staysin the sea for l2 hours per day since, as he said, his boat is not equipped to endure a sea trip lasting a few days. As he told Al-Wafd Arabic newspaper, Amm Saeed sells what comes into his nets at nearby market places, just keeping a few fish for his family to eat. El-Max has developed a reputation as a place where Alexandrians and holidaymakers can buy good quality fish at bargain price. The fishermen of Alexandria have no definite costume unlike their counterparts in Rossetta (Rashid) and the Suez Canal zone, who wear loose black cotton trousers and a white hat. While the elderly fishermen of el-Max prefer to wear a galabiya, the younger ones feel more comfortable in a T-shirt and a pair of trousers or jeans. The Max community is a limited one where everybody seems to know one another. The perilous nature of the sea, which does not always secure a steady or safe life for its patrons, has prompted the people there to live like one big family. The doors to their homes are kept open because there is always a neighbour or a relative seeking some kind of help or wanting to pass the time. Despite their modest and sometimes precarious life and the toxic canal in their midst, the fishing families seem content and rarely does one of the breadwinners think of leaving the place or changing his profession. The community of el-Max do not complain of the lack of modern living facilities, but they do wish that they could enjoy a clean environment and come under the umbrella of a medical insurance system that would protect them from the “treacherous sea” as they call it.
