Women who fish around the Farasan Islands in Jazan Region appear in a global cookbook published by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) for the International Year of the Woman Farmer 2026, which presents them as an example of women's role in producing food, preserving traditional knowledge and supporting local livelihoods.

The book tells the story of Anbra Qasim, who started fishing more than 40 years ago with her grandmother and veteran fishers in Farasan. Her experience now allows her to teach fishing and cooking skills to young women who want to take up the trade, helping to keep it alive across generations.

Farasan's women fishers both catch fish and look after, prepare and preserve it using traditional methods, a chain of skills that links the sea to the dinner table.

The cookbook includes a Saudi recipe for salted and dried fish served with a salad, part of the food heritage of Farasan Islands Governorate and Jazan Region, and explains the salting and drying method handed down within families.

It also notes the women's efforts to raise their incomes by fishing more and improving the quality of their catch, and describes the FAO's sustainable rural agricultural development programme with the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture, which helps develop artisanal fishing and fish preservation skills and improve product quality while protecting marine ecosystems.