La pesca del tonno, acquaforte di Jean-Pierre Houël

Almadraba (from

Andalusi Arabic Andalusi Arabic (), also known as Andalusian Arabic, was a variety or varieties of Arabic spoken mainly from the 9th to the 17th century in Al-Andalus, the regions of the Iberian Peninsula (modern Spain and Portugal) once under Muslim rule. It ...

''almaḍraba,'' meaning 'the place to strike, also derived into pt, Almadrava) is an elaborate and ancient technique for trapping and catching

Atlantic bluefin tuna The Atlantic bluefin tuna (''Thunnus thynnus'') is a species of tuna in the family Scombridae. It is variously known as the northern bluefin tuna (mainly when including Pacific bluefin as a subspecies), giant bluefin tuna or individuals exceed ...

(''Thunnus thynnus'') originally used by the

Phoenicia Phoenicia () was an ancient thalassocratic civilization originating in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily located in modern Lebanon. The territory of the Phoenician city-states extended and shrank throughout their histor ...

ns and developed to its current form in southeastern

Iberia The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...

during the Islamic period. The technique, in its most simple iteration, consists in setting up net barriers so as to trap the tuna when they migrate into the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

from the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

(February to July), on their way to spawn and until recently, on their return journey, ("al revés"); the

bycatch Bycatch (or by-catch), in the fishing industry, is a fish or other marine species that is caught unintentionally while fishing for specific species or sizes of wildlife. Bycatch is either the wrong species, the wrong sex, or is undersized or juve ...

contains, among others,

bullet tuna The bullet tuna, ''Auxis rochei'', is a species of tuna, in the family Scombridae, found circumglobally in tropical oceans, including the Mediterranean Sea, in open surface waters to depths of 50 m (164 ft). The population of bullet tu ...

(''auxis rochei''),

little tunny The little tunny (''Euthynnus alletteratus''), also known as the false albacore, little tuna, bonita, bonito, or blue bonito, is a species of tuna in the family Scombridae. It can be found in the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean and Blac ...

(''euthynnus alletteratus''),

Atlantic bonito The Atlantic bonito (''Sarda sarda'') is a large mackerel-like fish of the family Scombridae. It is common in shallow waters of the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Black Sea, where it is an important commercial and game fish. De ...

(''sarda sarda''),

bigeye tuna The bigeye tuna (''Thunnus obesus'') is a species of true tuna of the genus ''Thunnus'', belonging to the wider mackerel family Scombridae. In Hawaiian, it is one of two species known as ahi, the other being the yellowfin tuna. Bigeye tuna are f ...

(''thunnus obesus'') and

swordfish Swordfish (''Xiphias gladius''), also known as broadbills in some countries, are large, highly migratory predatory fish characterized by a long, flat, pointed bill. They are a popular sport fish of the billfish category, though elusive. Swordfis ...

(''xiphias gladius''). Cemitério de âncora

It is a traditional form of fishing practiced mainly in southeastern Spain (

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a ...

Murcia Murcia (, , ) is a city in south-eastern Spain, the capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, and the seventh largest city in the country. It has a population of 460,349 inhabitants in 2021 (about one ...

and southern

Valencian Community The Valencian Community ( ca-valencia, Comunitat Valenciana, es, Comunidad Valenciana) is an autonomous community of Spain. It is the fourth most populous Spanish autonomous community after Andalusia, Catalonia and the Community of Madrid with ...

), Morocco and southern Portugal (the

Algarve The Algarve (, , ; from ) is the southernmost NUTS II region of continental Portugal. It has an area of with 467,495 permanent inhabitants and incorporates 16 municipalities ( ''concelhos'' or ''municípios'' in Portuguese). The region has it ...

). Almadradas have been set from the ports of

Cádiz Cádiz (, , ) is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the Province of Cádiz, one of eight that make up the autonomous community of Andalusia. Cádiz, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Western Europe, ...

Chiclana de la Frontera Chiclana de la Frontera () is a town and municipality in southwestern Spain, in the province of Cádiz, Andalucía, near the Gulf of Cádiz. It belongs to the association of municipalities of the Bay of Cádiz (Bahía de Cádiz), the provincial c ...

Conil de la Frontera Conil de la Frontera is one of the White Towns of Andalusia in the province of Cadiz (region of Andalusia), located on the Atlantic coast in the southern part of Spain, with around 22,000 inhabitants. In summer its population exceeds 90,000 inhabi ...

Barbate Barbate is a municipality of Spain part of the Province of Cádiz, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is coastal town located off the Atlantic Ocean, close to the Strait of Gibraltar. Displaying a total area of 142.17 km2, it has, ...

, Rota,

Zahara de los Atunes Zahara de los Atunes is a village on the Costa de la Luz of Spain in the province of Cádiz and the autonomous region of Andalusia. It is noted for its excellent beaches, an outdoor cinema, and la Iglesia Del Carmen church where, curiously, tuna ( ...

La Línea de la Concepción La Línea de la Concepción (, more often referred to as La Línea) is a municipality of Spain belonging to the province of Cádiz, Andalusia. The city lies on the sandy isthmus which is part of the eastern flank of the Bay of Gibraltar, an ...

, Nueva Umbría,

Isla Cristina Isla Cristina is a city and municipality located in the province of Huelva, Spain. According to the 2009 census, the city has a population of 21,324 inhabitants. Isla Cristina remains one of the most important fishing ports in Andalusia, its c ...

Ceuta Ceuta (, , ; ar, سَبْتَة, Sabtah) is a Spanish autonomous city on the north coast of Africa. Bordered by Morocco, it lies along the boundary between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. It is one of several Spanish territorie ...

and

Tarifa Tarifa (, Arabic: طريفة) is a Spanish municipality in the province of Cádiz, Andalusia. Located at the southernmost end of the Iberian Peninsula, it is primarily known as one of the world's most popular destinations for windsports. Tarifa ...

, among other ports. A similar technique exists in Sicily known as ''

mattanza ''Mattanza'', literally 'slaughter' or 'killing' in Italian, also known as ''Almadraba'' in Spanish and ''Almadrava'' in Portuguese, is a traditional tuna fishing technique that uses a series of large nets to trap and exhaust the fish. There ar ...

'' (a borrowing from the Spanish word ''matanza'', meaning slaughter), introduced either by the

Moors The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a distinct or ...

during Sicily's own Islamic period or by the Spanish afterwards.

In film

Roberto Rossellini Roberto Gastone Zeffiro Rossellini (8 May 1906 – 3 June 1977) was an Italian film director, producer, and screenwriter. He was one of the most prominent directors of the Italian neorealist cinema, contributing to the movement with films such ...

's ''

Stromboli Stromboli ( , ; scn, Struògnuli ) is an island in the Tyrrhenian Sea, off the north coast of Sicily, containing Mount Stromboli, one of the four active volcanoes in Italy. It is one of the eight Aeolian Islands, a volcanic arc north of Sici ...

'' includes documentary shots of the ''mattanza''. *

Rupert Murray Rupert Murray (born 28 May 1969) is a film director working in London. Murray began by making television documentaries for Channel Four's Cutting Edge series including Playing For England and Seconds To Impact (cameraman and editor), and short films ...

's ''

The End of the Line (2009 film) ''The End of the Line: How Overfishing Is Changing the World and What We Eat'' is a book by journalist Charles Clover about overfishing. It was made into a movie released in 2009 and was re-released with updates in 2017. Clover, a former envir ...

'' demonstrates almadraba when discussing declining catches. * Portuguese short documentary film :pt::A Almadraba Atuneira, directed by Antonio Campos.

References

Fishing equipment Fishing in Portugal Fishing in Spain Fishing in Italy Fishing in Morocco Scombridae {{Scombroidei-stub

In film

See also

References