Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Trap i shing
The average daily catch per i sher for trap i shing was 7kg,
an average daily earning of 28 000MZN, nearly three times the average
salary as a labourer or as i shing crew. Trap i shers i shed alone and
cleaned their own i sh and so had no expenditure on a day-to-day basis. If
i shers could sell their catch fresh in the village they would get 4 000MZN
whereas if they sold it all in one go to a i sh trader they would only get
3000MZN per kilo (21 000MZN for an average catch) but they could
organize this in advance and would be guaranteed to sell it all on the day
they caught it. Trap i shers usually retained about 1kg of their catch for
their own consumption. Very few trap i shers dried their own i sh.
Socio-cultural aspects of i sh use on Quirimba
Fish was highly valued as food on Quirimba. Although some species were
favoured for their taste, particularly lethrinids and siganids, all edible
species fetched a similar price. Fish was often used for barter. Small i sh
(around 10cm) caught by net i shers were bartered for bread rolls or peanut
biscuits made by local women, which they brought out to the boats as they
came into the landing site at Quiwandala at the end of the day's i shing
trip. The women who made these biscuits were usually single or had hus-
bands who were not involved in i shing. There was an inl exible exchange
rate of four small i sh (often variegated emperors or three-ribbon wrasse)
for one biscuit. Fish was commonly shared between family and friends in
the complex Quirimban 'kinship' networks (discussed below). Fish were
also commonly given as gifts or in exchange for other goods or services.
The small size of the i sh eaten was very striking. The capture and con-
sumption of small i shes that would be considered 'trash i sh' in many
places is a common feature of some tropical artisanal i sheries (Pauly,
1979; Gayanilo and Pauly, 1997). As Munro (1996) states, unless a i sh is
poisonous, the concept of trash i sh does not exist in many poor develop-
ing countries. People on Quirimba utilized extremely small i sh that would
have been discarded elsewhere, for example 5cm-long butterl y i shes,
emperors and damsel i shes. Fish was usually added to stews contain-
ing coconut milk, chillies and sweet potatoes. The small i sh could add
l avour and add nutritionally in terms of animal protein, but did not sig-
nii cantly increase the cooking time. Firewood was always in short supply
on Quirimba and collecting wood, whether from the mangroves or from
scrubland or from around the
machambas
, was hard work done mainly by
the women. Small i sh could be cooked quickly and required much less fuel
than large i sh.
There were some unusual uses of i sh and i sh products. Boxi sh
(
Ostraciidae
), not eaten in many places because of skin toxins, were well-
liked in Quirimba. They were stuf ed with rice and cooked directly in the
