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Once upon a time the tuna - www.favignanalidoburrone.it

www.favignanalidoburrone.it

Once upon a time the tuna.

And the tiny port of Favignana aware.
I do not know if you´ve ever visited Favignana, but just arrived at the marina there is a beautiful old building with the effigy of the lion of Florio scattered ´everywhere. The building is colored pink sand. There are lots of pointed arches and towers that seem very tall and thin minarets. Inside the structure really looks like a cathedral. But it is not a church, as an old plant for tuna processing, active until the ´50s. After it was total darkness. Preserving the ancient tradition of the island remains only a very small artisan company working the tuna roe and that is a miracle if not closed overnight because of the increasing difficulties and bureaucratic practices in sourcing tuna.

The slaughter of Favignana tuna catch is indeed getting smaller in weight and there is less and less. Competition from Japanese tuna seines is tremendous. They have aircraft with radar soundings. Furthermore spadare complicate even more the life of our small entrepreneurs. Unfortunately these ugly pelagic nets used to catch swordfish, declared illegal in most countries, causing the death of many marine species.

As just numbers, in ´98 were caught 85 tuna in all, about 90, 100 pounds.
In 18965 instead reached different figures: 14,000 tuna, with beasts of 300 KG. Obviously now no longer have the time to grow that are captured.

Slaughter only tourist attraction?

Unfortunately yes. Although the killing has ancient origins that are passed from the Greeks to the Phoenicians and us thanks to the wisdom of the Arabs, who have completed the forms, now seems just a tourist attraction.


As was the tuna?

Is anchored on the bottom of the networks because they formed a maze ensnaring the tuna. And surface buoys indicated the presence and the advance of the fish.
When even the last buoys were moving, the Rais (leader in Arabic) ordered the tuna fishermen to begin the slaughter. I honestly think it´s a show atrocious. Why am vegetarian.
However this is not the place and time to discuss food chain.

Traps, even today, are put in the water in April. And the fishing begins in May and continues until San Giovanni (June 24). Tonni permitting.


As you eat fresh tuna?

A table tuna is mainly eaten fresh or preserved in oil.
The belly and guts dried and salted roast you can do. Offal can be stored in salt. Giblets bag is seasoned with salt and pepper sausages such ficazze.