The Last Fishermen of Kashmir

After waiting for hours, Nazir Ahmad Kondoo rows his boat toward other fishermen on Anchar Lake in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, on Feb. 16.

SRINAGAR, Jammu and Kashmir—On one evening in February, 40-year-old Nazir Ahmad Kondoo returned from Anchar Lake to his single-story house in Srinagar, the capital of Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir. Exhausted, he hauled his fishing equipment—a net, a Panzar (a type of rod), and a fishing basket—with him. But no fish.

This was not the first time that Kondoo was unable to catch anything. But it was the third consecutive day he had to come home empty-handed—and that was unusual.