Beach Wednesday - Arte Xávega, a fishing gear with centuries of tradition in Portugal

Praia da Vieira is a small beach village where I spend summer holidays between my age of 10 to 18 years old

I got my first summer job here...ahhh...my first owned money!! I worked in an aquatic park attraction, where I had lots​ of fun too!!

This beach has a very distinctive sea breeze (which some people says it's rich in iodine), but it is also known for its fishing gear tradition - Arte Xávega

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Arte Xávega is a fishing gear with centuries of tradition in Portugal

It's practiced​ along the Portuguese Atlantic coast in some of the coastal communities, being an important part of their historical and cultural heritage

This gear involves hauling nets from the shore. If in the past, this was done by animals or manually using brute force; nowadays it is done mechanically. The fishing season is typically short and substantial quantities are never caught!

Here's a video that gives us an insight of how fisherman hauls the nets

I'll recommend the first 3 minutes from the video.

Some photos of how they push the nets, with local visitors helping too

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push...

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push....(don't worry, they had a tractor pulling the nets)

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Here it is...not much, hein!?

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They mainly caught sardines

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...and some squids too!

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Curiously the boat on this photo (and first too) is the same one of the video - Viking

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BeachWednesday tag was launched by @uwelang and it's a great idea to share some of our most special beach photos or short stories!

Hope you enjoyed this insight of traditional fishing!


Please do not forget to check the other daily photography challenges:

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