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| Beach near Velasquez Restaurante |
Isla Mujeres, the Island of Women surrounded by
water and fish, lobsters and conch. Until tourism started to boom in the 1980’s
the traditional way of making a living for islanders was fishing.
Even now around dawn the open deck
panga-style fishing boats and crews head out to pull in the hopefully-heavy
nets.
If they are lucky, four or five
fishermen per boat will be needed to haul the nets into the boat.
In the evening the reverse happens, the
fishing crews return to their favourite locations and reset the nets for the
night hoping for a successful catch.
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| Heading out - watching for the Lady Fish run |
When the weather turns grumpy the Port Captain
closes the port, restricting the size of the boat that can leave the harbor until
he gives the okay to leave.
These are
the days that most island restaurants will tell you that there is no fish for
their menu that day.
Others might have a
supply of frozen fish from previous catches, and still others might substitute
with a Vietnamese Basa, a river-caught fish, uniform in shape, and softer in
texture. Basa is not my favourite and I will usually
change to something that does not include fish for my menu choice.
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| Cleaning and repairing nets |
The good thing about a port closure - it gives the
fishermen time to repair and clean their nets.
Sometimes you will see them on the beach north of Velasquez Restaurante
on Rueda Medina.
They string the nets between palm trees searching for rips,
pulling off bits of seaweed that have been snagged in the weave.
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| Weaving a new net |
On very stormy days the net-mending takes
place under covered domes where after school basketball games normally happen.
Watching the fishermen repair tears in the
netting is very reminiscent of the folks who weave hammocks.
Holding a wooden bobbin in one hand and a tough
nylon line in the other their hands weave in and out, neatly filling in the
torn area. It’s a beautiful skill.
As you enjoy your freshly caught fish in a local
restaurant on Isla Mujeres think about the folks that make that tasty meal
possible.
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| Cleaning the catch |
Working whenever the weather
allows the small open boats to ply the waters, hauling in fish, cleaning the
catch at the end of the day and repairing nets on the stormy days in
preparation for the next day’s work.
It’s a physically demanding job, dangerous at times but for those who do
the work there is no other job that gives them so much enjoyment.
Cheers from Paradise
Lynda &
Lawrie
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| Crew cleaning up at the end of the day |
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