A fish blog.com

It was a pleasant surprise when some pictures from Sardinia dropped into my mailbox. The pictures were sent to me by Piero Addis and show fishermen from Sardinia (Italy) fishing bluefin tuna with the traditional fish trap called “tonnara”. This kind of fish trap is still in use in Sardinia although the decrease in the bluefin tuna stock has led to a decrease in the catches and number of fish traps. There are now only three fish traps left in Sardinia. One of them can be seen below.

The first two pictures show the “Mattanza”, the happening when the bluefin tuna is trapped in the last chamber of the tonnara. This has always been an important event for the fishermen in Sardinia.

The net is hauled and the bluefin tuna is forced to the surface where they will be landed into the vessels surrounding the chamber – also referred to as “the chamber of death”. The last years there has been a significant decrease in the average size of the fish caught in these traps. While swimming in the tonnara there are still some nice seized bluefin tuna to see.

The use of the traditional traps (tonnare) in Sardinia (southern Italy) can be traced back to the 15th century when the areas were under Spanish influence. The tonnara is a complex fishing gear consisting of nets and chambers. Every year the trap is set out at the same place. A leading net that may be over 1000 meters long leads the fish into several chambers. Illustrasjon: P. Massidda.

The leading net lead the fish to different chambers whereas some can be opened and closed manually. The Italians name the leading net as “the tail” and the part with the chambers is referred to as “the castle”. A large number of heavy anchors are used in order to maintain the position of the tonnara.

At the end of the18.th century there were over 25 tonnare in Sardinia. The fishing season lasted from the end of April till the middle of June when the bluefin tuna were migrating along the coastline. The caught tuna end their lives in the last chamber in the trap; the chamber of death (camera della morte). From this part of the trap the tuna is forced to the surface and landed into boats attached to the trap. To the coastal communities this is an important event called “Mattanza”. The pictures on this post show this happening in the 1940’s. During this highlight of the catch as many as 100 fishermen may participate. In a single catch there could be several thousands tuna.

The tonnara was emptied 12-15 times during a season and the Mattanza was led by a supervisor; named the “Rais”. The pictures on this post shows fishermen from Carloforte (Sardinia). Almost the entire population in this coastal community are participating in the one of the many processes regarding the fishery, work related to the fishing gear, canning, freight, export and so on. Large bluefin tuna were sold fresh for local consumption or canned for export. At the end of the 1960’s there was a significant decrease in the catches for this traditional italian fishery and there are now only three tonnare left in Sardina. In the entire Mediterranean Sea there are believed to be not more than 10 such fish traps left. Photos given by Piero Addis.