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BLU SEA EXPEDITIONS

Have you ever imagined joining a traditional fisherman to fish with nets from a colourful boat in the centre of the Mediterranean? We are talking about the Maltese fishermen, beleaguered in their unconscionably romance – superstitious loners who venture in the Mediterranean in vernacular wooden boats that are painted in bright bands of colours and sport the eyes carved on the bow that are supposed to lead the boat to rich fishing grounds.

Now you have a chance to join one of these fishermen on a real fishing trips – these are commercial, albeit small-scale and self-empolyed, fishermen who set out fishing day after day, come rain or shine. Most of these fishermen are freelancers who work alone, first catching the fish and then hawking the catch in a tiny fish-market or simply by peddling the fishes from the back of a pickup truck. The use old traditional fishing techniques that are fascinating, culturally and anthropologically. Below are outline descriptions of some of the fishing techniques.

• Fishing with trammel nets. In this method of fishing, which is the most common in the Maltese Islands, takes place near the shore and employs the use of trammel nets (or gill-nets). These tripartite nets are laid in relatively shallow sea at the base of cliffs, and fishes get caught at night when they unwittingly swim straight into the nets in the dark and get snagged – the more they struggle the more securely they are trapped. This method of fishing yields a colourful and exotic variety of fishes that live among rocks and boulders at the bottom of the sea.
• Long-line fishing. In long-line fishing, the fishermen target pelagic species that forage near the surface of the water in deep sea. The species targeted are tuna and swordfish – the latter is the most commonly targeted for the longest period in the year. We usually take out people with a fisherman who fishes for swordfishes, using long-line with hooks, about 10kms offshore.
• Mackerel fishing. Fishing for mackerel in relatively deep sea close to shore is an elaborate and intriguing operation that takes place at night. Small paddling boats are deployed from the mother launch, and these boats carry powerful halogen lamps that they switch over open water. The light attracts small organisms, and this in turn lures mackerel to feast on the bonanza. Then, as soon as enough mackerel comes to feed, forming a shoal so dense that the surface of the water churns, a purse-seine net is slipped around the feeding frenzy of mackerel and the fishes hauled aboard. In a typical night, a truckload of mackerel is caught in this manner.
• Fishing for dolphin fishes with purse-seine nets. Dolphin fishes are like a mythical fish in Malta, having been caught by Maltese fishermen for hundreds of years. The Maltese fishermen in fact invented an ingenious method of fishing for dolphin fishes (which are also called dorado). This involves setting floats of polystyrene with palm fronds attached to them; the dolphin fishes congregate under the floats, and then the fishes are rounded up by purse-seine nets. This type of fishing is among the most romantic and exciting in Malta.
• Fishing with traps. Traditional fishermen also use a variety of traps to catch a variety of fishes. Some types of traps only exist in Gozo, Malta’s sister island, and involve ingenious ways of luring fishes into the traps. These trips make great opportunities for photos, as well as an opportunity to see how these traditional fishermen are able to work creatively with rustic traps.

If you are interested in having us setting you up with a Maltese traditional fishermen to join on him on a fishing trip, please write to us for more details. Most of the fishermen we use are from Gozo, Malta’s smaller and more traditional sister island. All fishing trips are day-tours: all trips, with the exception of fishing for dolphin fishes, take less than a day (or a night in the case of fishing for mackerel with lamplight).

In most cases we can only accept a maximum of two or three participants as the fishermen’s boats are small. Guests will be accompanied by a coordinator that arranges everything and explains the background of the kind of fishing taking place. 

It is possible to have a service with frills in that some of the fishes that are caught during the fishing trips can be cooked up and served to the participants. Cooking can either be a traditional and hearty affair at the household of the fisherman, or it can be a more refined experience by having the catch cooked up by a professional cook in a variety of settings.