Hawkes Bay

Mornings are usually spent fishing while afternoons are spent repairing nets. Although most nets are now commercially manufactured, repair work is down by the owners or their sons. Fishermen work in groups, either helping each other are larger nets… >

The main fish protein source focuses on smaller fish that are caught in the inshore area. One of the main methods used to catch these is a casting net. Unlike other forms of fishing nets, this is an active form of fishing where the fisher stalks the… >

Other fish are used for commercial sale, but these inshore fisheries provide the bulk of food for the household. Here a younger member of a local household is pulling up his inshore fixed gill net. The net is fixed in place and catches fish in its m… >

Today large fish are primarily for sale on the commercial market. A fishmonger would arrive from town to purchase the fish and take them to the various urban markets in town. This individual also owns the ice house and the diesel fuel depot in the v… >

Between 1993-1994 I lived and worked in a small Baluch fishing village near Hawkes Bay, Abdur Rehman Goth, just west of Karachi, Pakistan (goth is the Baluchi word for village). My main research goals were to conduct an ethnoarchaeological study of … >

In the fishing village, fish are prepared for drying. The heads and gills are removed and the fish is split up the middle along its belly. Slits are cut into the meat and salt is spread in to help the drying process. With the small catches that are … >

Near-shore fishing requires the use of boats and larger, stronger nets than the inshore fisheries. The Baluchi boats are stylistically different from the Sindhi boats. Abdur Rheman Goth, the Baluch village where I lived, is surrounded by Sindhi vill… >

Medium and large fish are then placed into a brine pit and soak up salty brine before being placed in the sun. The meat is not usually used for human consumption, although it is traded into the interiors of Baluchistan and Sindh Provinces. The small… >

Every morning many boats are hauled down into the water with help from other fishermen waiting to get to their boats. This is an extremely cooperative move by all the fisherfolk within the village. Every evening these boats are hauled back up. This … >

Through the study of butchery and fishing practices, it is possible to reconstruct behaviors that occurred in the past. These cut marks on a sua fish (Protonibea diacanthus) mid-body vertebra are approximately 4,500 years old and originate from the … >