Tag: fishermen’s cooperative

Seafood auction in Porto Santo Stefano

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Having arrived at the port of the town of Santo Stefano at sunset, we could see fishermen’s ships moored to the dock and fishermen who were sorting and sprinkling the day’s catch at the stern of the ships. The fish was sorted in 3 classes: first, second and third according to species, weight and various other characteristics. When everything was ready, the fish was brought in white styrofoam boxes filled with ice and brought by car to a large building where an auction would take place.

The contents of the boxes vary from fish like mackerel and mullet, more or less mixed (considered as a delicacy for those who like an Italian dish, which is called «fritto misto». As noted here, it consists of a mixture of cod, mullet, sole, Mediterranean scaldfish, while small fry of anchovies, rock goby and picarel may also be included; other species include giant, red shrimp of prime quality, scampi and musky octopus, all of which is put in rows of white boxes on the top of pallets placed on the floor of a big hall. After a pallet had been filled with boxes full of seafood, an auctioneer assessed the maximum price of the seafood according to species of prime quality and the minimum price determined by the same species of the lowest quality. In addition to the auctioneer, the pallet was surrounded by buyers coming from far and wide in Italy, getting ready to make their offers. The buyers buy the seafood wholesale and they sell their goods to retailers, restaurants, fishmongers, etc.

All the time people were talking loudly, even shouting and gesticulating while the seafood, which was placed in three rows on each pallet, gradually was bought by the highest bidder. The contrast with the Fish central in Oslo, Norway could hardly have been greater. There, workers were just collecting seafood according to customers’ orders, while no buyers were present.

After a successful purchase, workers would cover the fish with ice, package everything in adhesive plastic, make a label with the name of the buyer, the date, the weight and other data on a computer, print it and attach it to the package. Apparently, this is necessary to guarantee that what the wholesalers will be offering to buyers, located at various destinations and markets in Italy, is genuine, .

During the auction, the auctioneer tried naturally to obtain as high a price as possible, but when he couldn’t get the minimum price he asked for, the corresponding crates were taken off the pallet and put on another one. When the auction was finished, the crates would be packaged as described above. The remaining seafood would be sold at local markets, restaurants, fishmongers and even to local people.

Since fish needs to be consumed shortly after having been caught, everything is done efficiently, setting strict requirements to the fishermen, the auctioneer, the wholesalers and the workers who make the auction possible.

03/11/2016
Fishermen’s cooperative of Porto Pino

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A short distance from the renowned, white dunes of Porto Pino, the lagoon of Porto Pino is located. A canal, which connects the lagoon and the sea, has been partially blocked by a barrier made by a cooperative of fishermen. Like the lagoon at Nora, young fish, which are born in the sea, seek safety and easy access to food in the lagoon. There, they grow up until their instincts make them return to the sea to spawn because the variable salinity and temperature of the lagoon will prevent the fertilised fish eggs from hatching. Before they can go back to the sea, they have to pass the canal where the fishermen have set up a barrier stretching across the whole width of the canal. Having a polygonal shape and being made of vertical bars which have been embedded in the sea bed, the barrier is easy to enter because it has an opening like a funnel, but difficult to exit. Besides, the mature fish try to cross the canal at high tide when there is a current from the sea to the lagoon. Then, the fish will only swim against the current and won’t return even though it would be possible to escape the barrier.

The movement of fish from the sea to the lagoon and vice versa has been known to man for millennia and their way of fishing is similar to that which has been practised since time immemorial.

Arriving at about 8 in the morning, we find Carlo and some of his colleagues inside the barrier, catching the fish by means of a hand-held net. One fisherman is standing still, holding one end of the net in the water, while another one is holding the net at the opposite end, walking slowly towards the first one, while gently contracting the space enclosed by the net. Finally, they meet and close the lower end of the net by means of a knot. Then, they carry it to an opening in the barrier where another fisherman is holding a bucket in which they empty the fish from the net. Finally, the fisherman on the outside brings the bucket with the fish back to the fishermen who are waiting for him on dry land.

Having lifted up the bucket, the fish is sorted. The most valuable fish, sea bass, is put in one bucket, while various species of sea bream, mullet, etc. are put in another one. Besides, fish which are too small are released into a large pond, connected to canal between the lagoon and the sea, but closed with a net such that they have to stay in the pond.

After the first selection, another selection is done in a large, quadratic and open box with perforated sides. The fish which were not sorted at the first selection are put in the box, water is poured over the fish, starting immediately to flow out of the holes in the side of the box. The fishermen sort the remaining fish quickly, putting them in styrofoam boxes and bringing them to a small shop where labels are put on each box. Locals are waiting for the fish to arrive at the shop and after having bought what they want, they return home with their “catch”.

Next morning, we are invited to join Raffaele and Samuele, father and son and both of them members of the cooperative, fishing in the lagoon near Porto Pino. Since we arrive early, Carlo willingly shows us how they fish in the lagoon. He holds some poles, which are sharpened in one end, and which are meant to be driven into the bed of the lagoon. The poles are connected by nets an he’s trying to explain how they are set up in order to trap fish. However, this completely new field for both of us, require more time to get acquainted with.

Having embarked a rowing boat, Raffaele is rowing, while Samuele is standing at the stern, ready to haul up traps, which have been placed on the bottom of the lagoon. It’s nice weather, the water is still and clear, only broken occasionally by the slow and delicate movement of the oars by Raffaele. They want to catch eel, a fish which prefers to move when it’s dark and stormy, according to Giovanni at the Fishermen’s Cooperative of Nora.

Slowly moving forward, we can see various contraptions in the water, that is the poles and nets Carlo showed us, together with some ropes. A trap is lying on the seafloor and Samuele pulls it up, unties the knot closing its end and empties the contents into a bucket. Then, he reties the knot and lets the trap back into the water. They repeat the same procedure 10-15 times, but the catch is small, indeed. Some gobies, a black scorpionfish and a couple of eels only.

Raffele has been a fisherman for more than 40 years and he kindly makes a sketch of how they set up traps in the lagoon. Firstly, the traps have to be set up perpendicularly to the movement of the fish. Secondly, the traps have to have a large opening, but there have to be obstacles if the fish should try to return. Thus, they set up the contraptions Carlo showed us such that they form two parallel V-shaped nets with a vertical net in between. The Vs form the obstacles for the fish. Having passed the opening, one net is placed obliquely on each side such that it gets gradually more narrow. A trap, consisting of a cylinder-shaped net with a funnel-shaped opening, is placed between the nets. Finally, a V-shaped net is placed behind the trap. This arrangement is repeated in a row extending from near the shoreline to about 200 metres into the lagoon. A coarse sketch is shown below.

Raffaele and Samuele tell us that they fish in the lagoon and the canal from October to March and from April to September in the sea. After having emptied and laid back all the traps, we return to the fishery where the other fishermen are sorting and selling fish, while the local cats are patiently waiting for a morsel.

We also meet Carlo again who explains that, in addition to being a feeding ground for small fry, the lagoon is also used to feed sea water to the salt works at Sant’Antioco. In May, when the fishermen start fishing in the sea, sea water is pumped into the lagoon, pushing large amounts of sea water via a canal to Sant’Antioco.

Finally, we say goodbye to the fishermen, all of them being open and friendly.

29/10/2014
Fishermen’s Cooperative of Nora
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Having passed the breakwater connecting the remains of the ancient Punic-Roman town of Nora and the islet Fradis Minoris, we met Giovanni Lenti, the manager of the Fishermen’s Cooperative of Nora together with Mario, a fisherman who had just started catching fish from the lagoon bordering the breakwater.

We had arrived at the sandstone islet which together with the breakwater serve as a barrier between the sea and a lagoon being fed by two mouths, which can be opened or closed, connecting the lagoon and the sea. In fact, the breakwater was built in 1957, increasing the area of the lagoon and serving as a bridge between the mainland and the islet.

The lagoon, the islet with its surrounding dune and the sea are three different eco-systems, which are also connected and interdependent. In the past, like now, the islet has always been useful for fishing in both the lagoon and the sea.

While the Romans used the islet as a quarry for sandstone, traces which can easily be seen, the Catholic Church took possession of it in the Middle Ages. Then, the islet was used as a base for fishing and preparing the fish for consumption. Since the islet is called Fradis Minoris, which is Sardinian for Fratres Minoris in Latin, meaning Minor Brothers, it’s probable that a monastery has been on the islet.

In the 20th century, private persons were given a concession to the islet and to fish in the lagoon until the 1980s when the commune decided to regain full ownership since the last owner gave up the concession and let it be known that the concession could be given to a better one. At the same time, a local golf club wanted to turn the islet together with the lagoon and its surroundings into a golf course. Fortunately, the Convention on Wetlands, called the Ramsar Convention, prevented that this environmental heritage was completely changed or even destroyed. Then, in 1987, a concession for maintaining the lagoon and founding a restaurant was given to the cooperative “Ittica di Nora” or “Fishermen’s Cooperative of Nora” freely translated.

The cooperative started immediately improving the conditions for life in and around the lagoon, removing a run-down building on the islet and replacing it with a restaurant, various aquariums together with explanatory signs about life in the lagoon were set up. Some time later, the restaurant got the name Fradis Minoris.

In addition, the cooperative set up other buildings destined for housing various water tanks in order to set up stages of an educational path. They have also constructed tanks and various supporting functions for recovering cetaceans and sea turtles which are in need of help.

Three fundamental guidelines seem to govern the goals together with the political, economic, and environmental choices of the cooperative:
- exploit the resources of the lagoon and create work for members of the cooperative, impacting the environment lagoon – dune – sea as little as possible at the same time.
- set up an educational path on the islet in order to let visitors learn about this particular environment seeking to create an awareness of the environmental value of places on which economic activity has to occur and grow.
- be as self-sufficient as possible by using the catch from the lagoon and the sea together with herbs grown on the islet in the kitchen of the restaurant where a group of young people are making delicious courses.
Fishing in the lagoon follows traditions which have been in use for several thousand years and it’s practised in accordance with the biological rhythms of the fish. The lagoon is a shallow water environment where young fish are able to find lots to eat, meaning that they stay in the lagoon from small fry to mature. Then, their instincts will make them try to go to sea by swimming along the shoreline of the lagoon, searching for a counter-current, which occurs at high tide when water is flowing from the sea to the lagoon. In fact, the salinity and temperature in the lagoon are so variable that the eggs can’t hatch. Instead, the fish lay eggs in the sea, which has a stable temperature and salinity. After the eggs are hatched, the small fry will enter the lagoon by swimming against the current, which occurs at low tide when water is flowing from the lagoon to the sea.

The fishermen of the cooperative practise two types of fishing:

Mobile fishing follows the movements of the fish and depends on the ability of the fishermen to identify when the fish will form a school. Once identified, nets have to be lowered, encircling the shoal, avoiding noise and abrupt movements, which can cause even minuscule vibrations in the water. Any sudden change of direction of the school, leaving the area without letting the fishermen change the position of the boat or prevent them from anticipating the position of the school, may ruin the whole operation. Thus, the net is lowered in a wide circle around the school, keeping it floating by means of small floats attached to the net. Having encircled the fish, the fishermen hit the boat with a wooden object, creating vibrations in the water, frightening the fish, making them move towards the centre of the circle. Then, the fishermen can start decreasing the area of the circle formed by the net, diminishing the space in which the fish can move at the same time. Finally, the majority of the fish in the shoal can be pulled into the boat.

Fixed fishing consists of attaching nets in the lagoon from the shore to, say, one to two hundred metres into the lagoon, forming barriers which impede the movements of the fish from the lagoon to the sea. When the fish meet the obstacles, they don’t return, but swim along the nets, trying to find a way out to the sea. In order to catch the fish, traps are placed at specific places along the nets. They are cylindrically shaped with a funnel-like opening such that it’s easy for the fish to enter, but not to exit. The fishermen lift up the traps by pulling up a wooden pole which has been led through a loop of rope attached to the trap. Having pulled up the trap, it’s opened by untying a knot at the opposite end of the entrance and the fish are let into a bucket. Finally, the knot is re-tied, the pole is led through the rope loop and attached to the bottom of the lagoon.

The traps which are placed along the nets are quite big, say, a diameter of 40 cm and a length of 2 metres. Instead, other traps are also used, with dimensions of, say, a diameter of 25 cm and a length of 50 cm. These traps are placed where the fishermen know from experience that there are lots of fish and a bait is placed inside.

We joined Mario, the fisherman, in a rowboat. Rowing slowly, he rowed along the barrier in the middle off the lagoon, pulling up wooden poles occasionally, releasing the rope loop, untying the knot and emptying the catch into a bucket. We watched him catch fish like bass, seabream, mullet, etc. Later, he showed us where sea water was entering the lagoon at high tide and vice versa. We could both see and hear water from the sea enter the lagoon during our visit. Barriers extending across the whole opening let the fishermen allow fish to enter or exit the lagoon.

On our short fishing trip, Mario released small fish into the lagoon, while the rest was either sold at markets or taken to the restaurant Fradis Minoris.

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We were watching the young cooks of Fradis Minoris turn the fish from the lagoon into elaborate dishes with an ability which may be termed “culinary art”. There, the tastes of the sea are joined with the tastes and fragrances of dry land complementing each other. The menu included bottarga of mullet, octopus with squash purée, king oyster mushrooms with mulberry sauce, quince pie with ricotta cheese, etc. A treat for the eyes and the palate. A real excellence of the Mediterranean.
24/10/2014