Close up of a Bluefin tuna surrounded by blood tinted water in the Almadraba net in Zahara de los Atunes, Spain. Date: 06/06/2012. Photographer: Xabier Mikel Laburu.
From the four fishing methods that are usually used in Spain to capture the bluefin tuna, probably one of the most controversial, old and spectacular is the Almadraba, a labyrinth of nets anchored to the bottom of the sea bead and lifted with surface buoys. I was witness of a ‘Levantá’, moment of the maximum climax in this ancient tradition, that is when the tunas are picked up from the net were they are trapped, a tradition that repeats its self since time of the Phoenician. Between April and August, thousands of the species (Thunus Thynus), pass through the Gibraltar Strait direction to the Mediterranean Sea, where the hight temperatures, the high salinity and the water currents help the spawn. But the period of the Almadraba is usually short and goes from April to June. The capture of tunas by this method is conditioned by many factors: cleanliness, transparency and temperature of the water, the winds, the tides and the phases of the moon. Also by the abundance of the resource, a key factor considering it is a very priced species for fishing companies of all over the world. Since the Almadraba is a fixed fishing technique, it cant increment artificially the amount of captures and depends on the population stability from the tuna more then any other fishing system. In little more then one hour the “levantá” is done, this is a complex operation that precedes the capture of the gigantic bluefin tunas – some individuals can get to way 700 Kilos-. Once they are trapped in the Almadraba, they are manually selected by expert fisherman, a crane hoists them on board while still alive, where they sacrifice them with two clean stabbings avoiding any damages to the body of the animal.
Size: 4256px × 2832px
Location: Zahara de los Atunes
Photo credit: © Xabier Mikel Laburu / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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