17.2 History of the Tuna Fisheries in the Alboran Sea
in the Last Century
Bluefin tuna fishery is the most ancient fishing industry in the world (Di Natale
2012a, b, 2018). The bluefin tuna fishery in the area of the Strait of Gibraltar and
the Alboran Sea is as old as the first settlers that arrived on the Andalusian coasts.
The researcher, Mario Morcillo Moreno (personal communication), suggested that
the Atlanterra cave (Zahara de los Atunes, Cádiz) was used since that time as an
observatory to detect the arrival of schools of tunas. A solar calendar was found
inside the cave showing the exact moment of the sunset on the horizon at the dates of
the arrival of tunas. The cave paintings found show that this activity has been done
for about 5000 years. In 1791, a Spanish officer published the Historical Dictionary
of the National Fishing Arts (Sáñez-Reguart 1791-95), showing the fishing activity
and the description of the different tuna traps in the Strait of Gibraltar and Alboran
Sea areas, the fishing grounds both at the north and the south of the area. Likewise,
the Alboran Sea has been an important fishing area, which is evidenced by
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
3500
4000
1985
1987
1989
1991
1993
1995
1997
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2001
2003
2005
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2011
2013
2015
2017
Landings (t)
Bluefin tuna
0
20
40
60
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120
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160
1985
1987
1989
1991
1993
1995
1997
1999
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2003
2005
2007
2009
2011
2013
2015
2017
Landings (t)
Little tunny
Fig. 17.1 (continued)
17 North Atlantic Oscillation Effect on the Biology and Fisheries of Tuna. . .
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