Bonito

6 February 2023

News

The nice thing about sailing in Cape Verde is that when you go ashore, you see a lot of the daily life of the Cape Verdeans. The weather is always nice here, so people live outside a lot. So we also encounter local fishermen wherever the OOSTERSCHELDE anchors. The small fishing boats leave very early at night or very early in the morning, to return a few hours later with the catch. One of the fish species that is often caught here is the Bonito: a predatory fish that looks a lot like a small tuna, and is also related to the tuna and mackerel.

In the photo accompanying this message you can see the fishermen who bring the freshly caught fish ashore in the morning. It was a good catch! While the fishermen are inspecting their wares, some are busy checking and repairing the fishing nets. The women wait patiently to sell the catch on the street and in the market. They carry the fish in the blue trays on their heads. It is impressive to see how many fish they can carry around their heads at the same time. In the background you can see the fishermen who worked hard all night. They are lucky with this catch, but often the fish win the daily battle, and the catch is a lot less.