The Messolonghi-Aetoliko lagoon and Amvrakikos gulf, are the largest in the Mediterranean and attracts strong interest in National and International level as one of the most important wetlands of Greece. These areas are distinctive for their great biological, ecological, aesthetic, scientific, geological/morphological and environmental value. The lagoons are home to many rare species of birds and many more species of flora and to their waters, are practiced centuries-old fishing practices that use fish traps – called “divari” – to create natural fish farms, as well as longlines, harpoons, square nets (“stafnokari”) and “Ntaliani” or “Thinio”, a structure on the coast along the fish crossings. Fishermen use harpoons, ners, hooks, “volkous”, drums, “pezovola” and nets, depending on the fish they want to catch. Those traditional fishing methods, are practiced by a small number of people nowadays and they’re very few traditional “divaria” (fish traps). All divaria are gradually replaced by modern iron and concrete made fish traps.
The proposed project wishes to document and make available the material histories of traditional fishing, to comprehend how fishing has been integral to the traditional ecological knowledge and preservation of the respective fragile ecosystem. Such research is particularly important as traditional fishing production across the region continues to decline due to a complex array of factors that gradually destroy the wetlands and cause the fish populations to decline. Following 12-month field documentation, this project hopes to record in-depth the fishing practices all year around and the narratives of the people involved. This also includes the construction and preservation of the various fish traps as well as investigating local forms of traditional ecological knowledge. This project will systematically document: what types of materials used to make fish traps and with what criteria are collected from the environment; the variations of the fishing traps at Aitoliko/Messolonghi and Amvrakikos; the steps in the construction of both Ivari fish traps and Daliani and who is involved (this includes the process of the last traditional net making by the last craftsman); where and why the fish traps are sited in the landscape, and the reason why there are so many different fishing methods applied at different circumstances. The team will collect personal narratives of how people came to learn and apply the traditional fishing methods and what is the specialized vocabulary used for each process and tool used on each fishing method.
Principal Investigator:
Maria Fotiadi
Collaborators:
Evangelia-Aikaterini Angeli and Ioannis Gatas
Location of Research:
Amvrakikos Gulf and Messolonghi/Aetoliko Wetlands, Greece
Host Institution:
Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture, University of Patras, Greece
Top Banner Image: Traditional Ivari (fish trap) of Messolonghi/Aetoliko Wetlands (general view). Photo credit: Maria Fortiadi.