Recent Master of Marine Management graduate Rahim Sheik Heile remembers one Friday growing up in Somalia when he found himself on the water.
“I used to go to the sea every morning and see people fishing,” says Rahim. One day he asked a man fishing, “’Can I follow you today?’ I fished with him, and he taught me how to put the hook and line on, everything.”
He noticed, though, that the man would return much of the fish he caught back to the water.
“The problem is that the people don’t like eating fish,” he joked. But there was a greater lesson there – one that he would be instilled into his research and advocacy.
“’He said, ‘I will come tomorrow.’ The fish were abundant and very few people were fishing there,” Rahim recalled. It was there on the riverbank that he started to form a concept of sustainability and equity that would influence his work years later nearly 11,000 kilometers away from home at Dal.
A chance meeting
Fast forward to 2017, Rahim found himself in the Maldives, representing his country at a meeting of like-minded developing coastal states, known as the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission. It was there that he met Dr. Megan Bailey, an associate professor in Dal's Marine Affairs program.
Rahim, who also has his MBA, was working with Somalia’s Ministry of Fisheries in his capacity as a fisheries director. His goal was to improve fishing equity in the Indian Ocean and represent Somalia’s interests in international negotiations.
It was after a coffee chat with Dr. Bailey that Rahim decided he wanted study in Halifax at Dal. He was accepted into the Master of Marine Management program in 2019, but visa delays and tragedy pushed back his start.
“I was preparing to do an exam in Nairobi, and that was the moment a big explosion happened in Somalia,” Rahim said. “I couldn’t go and travel. I missed the deadline.”
Then, with the start of the pandemic in Spring 2020, his arrival in Canada was again delayed. The tragic loss of colleagues and friends, along with travel restrictions, greatly complicated the start of his degree.
“Sometimes it’s difficult for me to make a decision on tough issues. But the moment I decided, I never hesitated. I waited, I continued, I persisted, until I reached the destination.”
Working for equitable outcomes
It took several challenging years for Rahim to realize his goals, but in 2021, that persistence paid off. He arrived in Halifax, but not before entering a two-week quarantine due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Staying at a Truro hotel, with the help of funding from Dal, Rahim remembers how one of his new colleagues drove up from Halifax to bring food and help him feel a little less alone while he braved the 14 days in the hotel room.
That sense of support that Rahim encountered continued throughout his graduate program at Dal, where he completed research on foreign tuna fishing in Somali waters.
“Rahim’s work relates to the position of Somalia as a developing coastal state, previously a failed state, trying to redevelop its governance capacity, but fishing capacity as well,” explains Dr. Bailey, who is also Canada Research Chair in Integrated Ocean and Coastal Governance and serves as Rahim's advisor
“His work is all related to his former position within government, working to support equitable outcomes for Somalia in fisheries negotiations.”
A newfound confidence
Looking back on the past two years in the program, Rahim believes he’s improved his ability to quickly problem solve — a critical skill in fast-paced multilateral negotiations.
“I feel more confidence now,” says Rahim.
“Conversation moves really fast in these meetings,” says Dr. Bailey. “Countries cite a legal precedent, or they cite a report. Then the topic moves on. If you’re the person sitting at the microphone, you have to think really fast.”
The confidence those meetings require is something that Rahim always had within him, according to Dr. Bailey. She recalls watching him at a 2018 Commission meeting taking place during Ramadan.
“There were some delegates who had been fasting all day in these super long meetings, for weeks. The meeting is supposed to end at a certain time and the chair just kept letting it go. Rahim took the floor, and I thought this was very brave, and said ‘can we take a break to break our fast?”
A broader scope
Now, as Rahim has reached the end of his program, he will continue working with Dr. Bailey on his PhD and focusing on equitable fishing outcomes.
“My master’s was basically focusing on Somalia,” says Rahim, who begins his doctoral studies this fall.
He will continue his studies with funding and support from the Sustainable Fisheries and Communities Trust (SFACT) and Nippon Foundation Nexus Program. He hopes to take a regional perspective and investigate colonial legacies and economic development in the east African region.
While it was not an easy journey, from arriving in Canada to completing his degree, all while dealing with personal loss, Rahim looks back proudly on the last two years.
“The moment they called my name [at Convocation], I remembered the day I met Megan,” Rahim says.
“The research itself is not really the goal, it’s doing this research to improve the future and create opportunity for the country and for the region. It has real meaning,” Dr. Bailey says about Rahim’s work.
While Rahim isn’t entirely sure what the future will hold for him, he hopes that one day he will be able to return to Somalia as a change-maker. No matter what that looks like, he’ll be taking with him the lesson’s he’s learned, and has yet to learn, at Dal back home and to the negotiating table.
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