Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Some other invertebrates were collected by women and men.
Makome
(
Chicoreus ramosus
- murex shells) were one of the few invertebrate species
routinely collected by men. They were collected incidentally by trap and
net i shers in the seagrass beds. Abandoned
marema
traps appeared to
provide a good aggregation device for murex shells. Some i shers also
specialized in
makome
i shing, using canoes and paddling out to deeper
seagrass sites to dive for the shells. Shells caught in deeper water by full-
time murex i shers were much bigger than those caught incidentally by
other i shers. Murex shells were used in a variety of ways. The animal was
cooked in the shell for immediate consumption, the opercula were sold by
the kilo to Tanzania and the shells were burnt on large pyres with other
shells to make lime for painting houses. Despite the large size of many of
these shells there was no evidence of their use in the curio trade.
Kome nlume
(
Pleuroploca trapezium -
tulip shells
)
were collected almost
entirely incidentally in other i sheries. They were sometimes eaten but
their main value was for their opercula, which were also sold by the kilo
to Tanzania. A remarkably wide variety of other molluscs were caught by
children. These were mainly small molluscs that are found higher than the
level of low spring tides and even those found near the top of the beach
and in small areas of mangrove. The value of these shells appeared to be
solely to supplement the diet of the family and none were sold. Women
who are not normally involved in invertebrate collection also collect these
species on a casual subsistence basis.
Many of the intertidal invertebrates such as
mbari
(oysters),
macaza
(pen shells) and
ombe
(ark shells) were mainly found at the low tide level
and so were only accessible at low spring tides, just three or four days
per fortnight. This meant that women who collected these molluscs had
a less regular income than net i shers but their catches on these few days
were often more valuable than a day's net i shing. Women could also i t a
range of activities around the tidal cycle. Some women collected octopus
and other organisms associated with the exposed reef l at on the east coast
of Quirimba around neap tides, then moved round to the lower littoral
species around tides closer to springs. During completely unsuitable tides
(high neaps) women worked on their
machambas
. Some women also col-
lected the higher littoral molluscs during these tides, such as
Strombus sp
.
(tiger sand conch).
Alternative sources of income
On Quirimba the main alternative source of employment was subsist-
ence agriculture. Most people on the island were involved to some extent
in agriculture, tending a
chamba
to provide their family with papaya,
sweet potato, cassava and beans. Most agricultural activity took place
