Almadraba
Encyclopedia
Almadraba tuna is tuna
Tuna
Tuna is a salt water fish from the family Scombridae, mostly in the genus Thunnus. Tuna are fast swimmers, and some species are capable of speeds of . Unlike most fish, which have white flesh, the muscle tissue of tuna ranges from pink to dark red. The red coloration derives from myoglobin, an...

 caught by an elaborate and age-old Andalusia
Andalusia
Andalusia is the most populous and the second largest in area of the autonomous communities of Spain. The Andalusian autonomous community is officially recognised as a nationality of Spain. The territory is divided into eight provinces: Huelva, Seville, Cádiz, Córdoba, Málaga, Jaén, Granada and...

n technique of setting nets in a maze that leads to a central pool called "copo". In Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...

, the mazes of nets, and also the places where the nets are set are called Tonnara, and the overall method of capturing the fishes is called Mattanza. This takes place during spring and the beginning of summer when tuna tend to go into the Mediterranean.

The maze uses just two net lines, called "raveras". One net is connected to the shore and other line is secured in deeper water. Those lines have smaller oblique lines which lead to the central pool. This simple maze works because tuna are not able to see the exit from the central pool, and remain inside. The floor of the central pool is then raised in order to catch the tuna and when that floor is held up, there is little room left for tuna and they are then caught easily and slaughtered.

In film

  • Roberto Rossellini
    Roberto Rossellini
    Roberto Rossellini was an Italian film director and screenwriter. Rossellini was one of the directors of the Italian neorealist cinema, contributing films such as Roma città aperta to the movement.-Early life:Born in Rome, Roberto Rossellini lived on the Via Ludovisi, where Benito Mussolini had...

    's Stromboli
    Stromboli (film)
    Stromboli is a 1950 Italian-American film directed by Roberto Rossellini and featuring Ingrid Bergman...

    includes documentary shots of the mattanza.
  • Rupert Murray
    Rupert Murray
    Rupert Murray 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 , and short films Outsiders and This Was My War, co-directed with Beadie Finzi.In 2005 he directed British...

    's The End of the Line (2009 film) demonstrates almadraba when discussing declining catches.

See also

  • Favignana
    Favignana
    Favignana is a comune including three islands of the Aegadian Islands, southern Italy...

    , a Sicilian island where mattanza is still performed in May.
  • The Dukes of Medina-Sidonia made their fortune on the monopoly of Andalusian almadrabas from the 12th to the 19th century.
  • Zahara de los Atunes
    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 has Barbate and Tarifa very near by and has excellent beaches. In the town there are a variety of restaurants, cafes, hotels, an outdoor cinema, and a scenic church....

    , an Andalusian town named after the tunas of its almadraba.
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