Tom Powell
TUNA-lovers are descending on the Costa de la Luz with the bluefin tuna season finally underway.
Most towns hold annual tuna festivals throughout May and June, while fishermen are already taking to the waves to land their catch.
The ancient method used to catch bluefin tuna is called the Almadraba, and involves a maze of nets placed along tuna routes.
It goes back to Phoenician times and there are four in Zahara, Conil, Barbate and Tarifa.
The Almadraba is not aggressive and is respectful of both the species and the environment.
The first of the festivals takes place in Barbate and runs from now until May 3, while the seventh tuna tapas festival of Zahara will run from May 12 to 17.
Meanwhile, Sotogrande celebrates its second tuna fair from June 5 to 7.
Difficult to comprehend that fishing out of an endangered species is celebrated in this way. Most of the catch ends up in Japanese sushi restaurants after being couriered in dry ice.
Is’nt over fishing wiping out the Tuna species everywhere|?
Another cruel sport featured. Can’t you stick to tennis, football and golf!
Surprised there are many Tuna left, they not only overfish the species, they dredge the bottom and destroy their feeding grounds.
Yes the Bluefin Tuna is being overfished, and yes it is now an endangered species according to the WWF, so although it is a tradition that goes back many years, like gladiatorial combat, and more recently bullfighting (in some parts of Spain) people have “moved with the times” and stopped using tradition as an excuse for ignorance. Yes it may also provide jobs, but so did slave running, and thankfully we realised the error of our ways with that.
Spain also does not kill the tuna as humanely as possible. They bash it to death. That is why a lot of tuna on sale has discolouration with patches of deeper red….it is bruising.
Imagine killing fish! Why can’t those horrid foreign types be like the humane Brits, who send millions of chickens every week to early retirement in the southern fried retirement homes.
Jack I looked for ‘Chickens’ on the endangered species list and I couldn’t find them. Can you enlighten us please?
The real problem as always is too many bipeds. We are the only species that has the ability to control our numbers and we don’t. As always religion and politics are the root of the problem – seriously disfunctional religious geeks spout the age old – God will provide and the political/financial sociopaths especially the Anglo-Saxon ones go apoplectic at the thought of declining population numbers because this form of capitalism cannot survive unless markets keep growing for their products.
I have a theory based upon reliable data that the 1% have a plan that they will put into practice before too long. From their position it makes complete sense, ironically it will be of benefit to the planet as a whole but for the rest of us bipeds – not good news.