Nerja in Andalucia was once a thriving fishing village, its string of pretty beaches and inshore waters crowded with brightly coloured traditional fishing boats. Since then, Mediterranean overfishing by large modern trawlers, poor fish conservation and general economic and social change have sadly reduced the number of Spanish fishermen working inshore with traditional fishing methods. In Nerja, however, twenty or thirty craft, largely crewed by part time fishermen, still land their shimmering fish catches in the first light of dawn. Not long ago I went to meet Paco Fernando as he landed a remarkably good catch on Burriana Beach, and learned that although the beach may now be a thriving tourist venue, crowded with restaurants and smart apartments, fish and fishing are still very much part of the fabric of life in Nerja.
Paco Fernando and his Fishing Boat
Paco and his son Pascal’s boat is beached below the fishermen’s store on Burriana, the largest of Nerja's many pretty beaches. This is a smart, modern, EU-funded building, and Paco’s nylon mesh nets and gleaming outboard motor are equally up-to-date. But his fishing boat, Francisco, makes no concessions to modernity. Carvel built in Caleta de Velez, to a pattern barely changed in hundreds of years, its high prow and stern rakes and great hand carved oars would be familiar to a Moor fishing the same waters a thousand years ago - except for the outboard motor.
Talking to Paco revealed two surprises. There are far more fish in the supposedly fished out Mediterranean than we’re led to believe, and however modern and efficient the huge Spanish offshore fleet may be, inshore fishing still follows a very traditional and far more environmentally friendly pattern.
A Splendid Fish Catch
The morning I met them Paco and Pascal returned at dawn from a night at sea with a good catch of fish, including 60 or more of the highly prized Bonito (Tuna), which move up the coast from the Atlantic in November and December. As the two fishermen beached Fernando a dozen helpers, mostly elderly men, rushed excitedly to the waters edge. Willing hands loaded huge wooden spars into the rusting windlass at the top of the beach. Six men took the strain, trudging in circles in the sand as they winched the heavy fishing boat metre by metre across the beach.
Traditional Fishermen Waste Nothing
Once the boat was safely clear of the water, everyone joined in sorting the catch, teasing fish from the nets and tossing them into boxes. Sardines, bream and and mullet went into one group of boxes, a growing pile of shimmering silver-blue Tuna into others, and two large octopus were dropped wriggling into the bottom of the boat. The occasional damaged fish was thrown to the gathering crowd of cats.
When the nets were finally empty, the helpers began to drift away, each rewarded by Paco with one or two fish for his help. Other fish went to the Merenderos lining the back of the beach; lunch doesn’t come fresher than this.
Marketing the Catch
Most of the Tuna were rushed off to the local market in Paco’s car, with Pascal riding ahead of the excited convoy on his motorcycle like a ceremonial outrider.
Within a couple of hours, visitors and locals alike were feasting on the catch in some of Nerja's top seafood restaurants and fish bars.
Having sold their tuna quickly, and for a good price, father and son soon returned to clean up and to inspect and repair their nets.
This calm ritual of net mending passes many happy hours for the fishermen as they sit in the sun, gossiping with friends and throwing the occasional scrap to passing cats and gulls. I suspect it’s their equivalent of the gardener’s potting shed – a good excuse to get away from the wife.
The Future of Traditional Fishing
Paco whose traditional fishing methods are so environmentally friendly and sustainable has often watched in frustration as larger trawlers from Caleta de Velez work only a couple of hundred metres off shore, scouring the sea bed and destroying everything on it large and small. More recently, however, developments both locally and across the European Union offer some cause for hope for better fish conservation and for the future of the traditional fishermen of Nerja.
Not only those who enjoy delicious fresh fish, but every visitor who takes delight in the spectacle of brightly coloured fishing boats dancing across the blue waters of the Mediterranean will hope those hopes are fulfilled.
More about Nerja's fishermen.
Tony Allen - In 2004 I began my "fourth career" as a freelance writer. In my first career, after training at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, I ...
