Ethnological Values and Opportunities for Establishing a Heritage Policy around Tuna-trapping in Andalusia (Spain)

The subject of this study is tuna fishing with traps (also called pound nets and seines) traditionally carried out off the Atlantic coast of Andalusia in the Straits of Gibraltar. The study is divided into two main parts: the first sets out a concept of heritage that stresses its ethnological angle. A range of cultural aspects and facets of fishing that may be applied in classifying tuna-trapping as heritage is offered, with emphasis on the immaterial and intangible. The second part reconstructs the evaluation of tunatrapping in two distinct ways: one relating to its memory and undeniable fascination for generations of writers and other artists who have focused their attention on fishing; the second offers strategies for classifying certain aspects of present-day tuna-trapping that could be validated as "heritage", to illustrate real and possible, good and poor management practices

Vigor crítico y minusvalía política: Las impotencias del discurso antropológico en la política pesquera

David Florido plantea en este escrito por qué la capacidad crítica del antropólogo en cuanto al ámbito de antropología de la pesca no ha podido plasmarse en actuaciones prácticas, a pesar de la intensa labor teórica llevada a cabo en las dos últimas décadas respecto del tema de la actividad pesquera

Being captain of a tuna trap: practice, knowledge, and skills for the sustainability of an age-old mode of fishing

Tuna fishing has historically been based on a complex network of socio-labor interactions involving a significant number of fishers having a variety of specific functions. Tasks have been divided into three main stages: preparation and deployment of the fishing gear; harvesting activities inside the trap, and dismantling of this impressive fishing tool. The captain emerges as the key figure watching over this wide range of activities, since all the technical tasks necessary for the different stages of the fishing to be properly executed depend on the captain (as well as others, as an intermediary between the company and the crew). His sensorial and intellectual skills and practical learning ability continue to underpin the operation of this centuries-old fishing mode, although the latest changes in the technical and economic organization of blue fin tuna fishing have changed the socio-cultural landscape of the traps. A theoretical reflection is given of the concept of vernacular expertise based on a description of these skills and their historical evolution (18th century onwards). The analysis focuses on tuna traps on the Andalusian Atlantic coast (SW Spain), and reviews the history of the fishery from the late 18th century to the present day; i.e., the historical period during which the previous fishing gear, the so-called " mobile " tuna trap (the almadraba de tiro or almadraba de vista (alternative names)) has been replaced by the " static " tuna trap (the almadraba fija or almadraba de buche (alternative names))