Fishing is one of the strongest forms of interaction between man and the marine environment and the Mediterranean Sea certainly occupies an important role. In recent decades, catches have styrocketed to the point of causing the collapse of many fish stocks, creating the so-called overfishing phenomenon.
Looking back…
if we turn the gaze to the past, even not so remote, it is natural to let ourself be fascinating by the tradition and sacredness of the fishing moments that saw men, women families live those moments with the respect and ethics these rites, not always of happy ending. This value is even more evident in the fishing of the great Pelagic whose history has made it the protagonist of films, museums, collections, focus of interests by experts and enthusiasts, enraptured by the charm of these creatures.
Tuna, yesterday, and even before yesterday,
represented socio-cultural privilege, survival and high hopes.
The fisherman, in fact, who made this role a source of life and pride, there was no time when he did not reserve prayers and songs to mark the laborious stages of the work. He prayed to Saints and iconic statues (e.g. S. Antonio) who taken in the arms of the great Rais, was literally placed in the stern of the muciara, bringing her back to the ground every evening, for thirteen consecutive evenings, where the women of the family were waiting for her. A true do ut des, between Saints and Fishermen who, if they had not brought good results, were required to immerse the statue in water.
… to not forget
It is difficult to imagine the enormous effort that seafarers deployed every season, from the beginning to the fateful moment of the “salpatu”. The Tuna sacrific must necessarily be aimed at the good of the community, the generality of the Common Res, and nothing else.
