Behind the scenes...

The day after the big catch I was walking along the beach with my colleagues and we again saw fishermen pulling in their nets. This time I had my camera with me. Here's a little glimpse behind the scene...or nets!



First the fisherman push their boat into the water, then they get in, paddle out further, throw the net into the water, then they somehow get back to shore- with ropes attached to the net at each end, the ropes are then attached to a tree or some other object on the beach- with a fair distance between them. After a while, guys start pulling on the ropes - slowly pulling in the net, little by little. After a while, their catch lays on the beach in front of them. Some days there are only a few fish in the net, other days there are more. Very occassionally there's the Big Catch.



On this particular day they caught a lot of fish- not as many as the night before (see previous blog entries) but still a rather big catch. They were quick to use the net to build a 'fence' around the piles of fish. Soon enough a big crowd gathered around.The catch needed to be protected.



As you can see, it got pretty busy. I am not so sure how it works. Apparently some fish are sold, some are given away. It seems organized, but it is hard to figure out what is happening. A lot of people walking back and forth, some arguments here & there, many baskets, piles of fish covered with cloth to symbolize ownership. One man even put his bicycle on top of his fish to make sure no one took them! Buying, begging, selling, giving. Everything at once.

When we asked one man how he got his fish, he said: "I am strong, you need to fight for it!" (He was one of the ones who was given a fish). When a small fight broke out, a sensible teenage girl commented on how silly it was to argue, saying: "ah, they're only fish..."

It was fun watching...from a distance :)