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Tag Archives: Fishing

Fishing and Fishermen

31 Friday Aug 2018

Posted by winifredcreamer in Ecuador

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Fishing, Markets

Artisanal fishing, where one or more individuals push a boat out into the ocean and spend the day fishing, then land and sell their catch, is a grueling existence. The sea can be dangerous, and yet there’s no pay if there are no fish. Fishing communities in Ecuador, like those in Peru, tend to be pretty humble places. We drove through the town of Valdivia on a Saturday and the boats had just come in, for there were fish on cutting tables right beside the street and people would pull up, roll down their window and buy fish on the spot.

There are huge fishing fleets. The smallest boats we saw were in Valdivia and Ancon, with larger boats in Anconito. All of these are the very smallest of the fishing fleets. Boats under repair are parked anywhere space can be found, including in the plaza by the museum in Valdivia. There’s not much room for boats to be parked among the fishermen’s houses along the shore.We went to the regional fish market in La Libertad, closer to us in Ballenita than driving to Valdivia and hoping the boats were in. This is among the largest fish markets we’ve been in, rivaling the fish on the Rialto in Venice (I’m sure it’s bigger). Sunday is the busiest day, and there were lobster in addition to all the fish and shellfish we saw on visits during the week. About ten varieties of shrimp are sold here, from huge tiger prawns to tiny peeled shrimp. In addition are octopus and a range of clams, mussels and scallops, along with a species that I’ve seen beachcombing, but never eaten. There are huge fish, too, mahi mahi and tuna that can be six feet long. All these fish are cleaned, scaled, skinned, filleted or cut into steaks according to the buyer’s requests. The floor is wet from the water used to sluice off the countertops.Outside the fish market is the market for fruits, vegetables and household goods. We were there around 9 am on Sunday, and found that lots of people visit the market and stop for a breakfast of fried fish. Smoke from the open fires used for grilling drifts out over the alley.We were impressed by the quantity of shrimp at the market and found that Ecuador is one of the world’s largest exporters of shrimp along with Thailand, Vietnam, and China. Shrimp farms cover low ground near the ocean all along the coast. We found a vantage point near Playa Santa Rosa where we could see the ponds fanning out across the horizon. The good result for consumers is that at the market, shrimp cost $3-$6 a pound. More good news is that to compete internationally, Ecuadorean shrimp farms are phasing out all chemicals. This gives their product an edge over Asian growers, at least for now.  We ate shrimp for dinner almost every night.

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Fishing

09 Thursday Jun 2016

Posted by winifredcreamer in Amanda, Norway

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Fishing

A great day of fishing, everyone caught fish and had to toss them back. We kept enough fish for two meals, one of pollock.

Jim--Fish #1
Jim–Fish #1
Next fish
Next fish
Last & best fish.
Last & best fish.

My big moment was catching a cod, the first fish other than a pollock (seithe) that we’ve gotten.

6.9.16 fishing (2)sm

 

 

 

 

6.9.16 fishing-023

 

 

The wind had come up a bit by the time I caught the cod, so I have my winter hat on. For much of the day, it was quite a bit warmer, but whenever clouds cover the sun or the wind picks up it gets pretty chilly.

6.9.16 baked cod

 

 

 

 

 

6.9.16 baked cod-003

It was a great fish.

 

 

 

 

 

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Amanda thinks for a while and then addresses the fjord.

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6.9.16 Fishing-009

Jonathan caught fish under Jimmy’s watchful eye.

We fished from a wonderful place set up for a huge gathering near the water called George’s Place. The sign says “Please clean up for next time.”

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6.9.16 fishing-021sm

Amanda looks around at the chairs, cooking utensils, fireplace with hanging pot and says, “So…. Norway has no tweakers? This would all be stolen from anyplace near us.” We then discussed whether Norway’s farm support policies help people in rural areas make a living–and therefore people don’t need to resort to producing meth to make money. It’s a thought. The area was spectacular.

6.9.16 Fishing-008

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A few of my favorites, Aug. 5, 2015

06 Thursday Aug 2015

Posted by winifredcreamer in California

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

beach combing, Fishing, walks

The sun has been coming in and fading out, creating special effects.

8.5.15 Jughandle

Jughandle state park

8.4.15 MendoHeaadlands-001

Blowhole on the Mendocino Headlands

8.3.15 Mendo headlands-004

Picnic friend

8.3.15 Mendo headlands-009

This is a goblin castle.

8.4.15 MendoHeaadlands-009

It’s only visible on the calmest day on the water.

8.5.15 SpringRanch.15 Jughandle-007

This is what the sea looked like the next day (today).

Tomorrow’s forecast is for gale force winds and 11 ft. waves.

Go figure.

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Pt. Cabrillo lighthouse, July 23, 2015

25 Saturday Jul 2015

Posted by winifredcreamer in California

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Fishing, walks

Again, we set out to  fish and were dissuaded by the waves. Beautiful, but no luck. We were on the Caspar Headlands.

7.23.15 Caspar Headlands-002sm

We could hear the barking of sea lions from our fishing spot, and found about 50 sea lions sunning themselves on the rocks in the background of this photo.

Here’s a closer look.

7.23.15 Caspar Headlandssealions-005sm

When fishing proved unpromising, we decided to walk around the Pt. Cabrillo lighthouse, another local landmark. The lighthouse still works, though it is automated now and the lighthouse keeper’s house and the assistant lighthouse keeper’s lodgings are now rental properties.

7.23.15 Cabrillo Pt. lighthousesm

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Another beautiful day, July 19, 2015

21 Tuesday Jul 2015

Posted by winifredcreamer in California

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Animals, Fishing

More search for fish yielded beautiful scenery. Doesn’t this look like the Caribbean?

7.19.20-019SM

Fishing boats roamed the water beyond this arch.

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Despite all the company, we didn’t land any fish.

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Harbor seals lounged on the rocks until the tide rose and pushed them off, then they flopped and rolled and skooched onto a slightly higher rock. There may be a sea lion mixed in with these guys, and even that molting elephant seal (palest colored animal) from the beach around the corner.

7.19.20-018sm

 

 

 

 

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What a week! Nature and culture in Mendocino.

19 Sunday Jul 2015

Posted by winifredcreamer in California

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Birds, Fishing, Gardens, Museums

I believe everyone says “where does the time go”? They’re right.

https://i2.wp.com/mendocinomusic.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/MMF-Logo-black-gold_200x146.png

The Mendocino Music Festival got into high gear this week and we attended three events, the California Honey Drops, a concert of five groups “A Capella Fever” and a fully staged opera, The Barber of Seville. The opera was my favorite so far, it had a simple but effective set, clever staging, and wonderful, strong, well-matched voices. Besides, this is a funny opera, no one dies. (Is it opera if no one dies?)

7.17.15 Barber in Mendo-005sm

Each one was better than the last and we still have one concert to go next week.

Between concerts, there was still lot of coast to explore, fish not to catch, and birds to identify.

We checked the tide table and planned to go snorkeling near low tide on Tuesday. The forecast was for warm weather, into the 80s, all week long. On Tuesday, we got up to heavy overcast, temperatures in the low 60s and a small craft warning (wind and waves) through Friday night. We decided against snorkeling (!), and drove down to see Point Arena pier. We tried fishing, but no luck. We did try both the Manhattan and New England clam chowder at the chowder house on the pier.7.14.15 Point Arenasm

We made an interesting discovery on our way out of town. In Point Arena, the Senior Center and the Druids meeting house are the same place….

7.14.15 Point Arena-002sm1

On to birds:

On the third Wednesday of each month, there is a bird watching visit to the botanical garden sponsored by the local Audubon club. A good-sized group of us met at 8 am and entered by a side gate. About half the group were local members and half were people like us who had read about the visit and just showed up. Our leader, Tim, said that this was not the beginner bird walk and would focus on identifying birds by ear. The combined expertise and eyeballs of a group yielded lots of birds and good company. Each person seemed to have a suggestion about how to identify birds or how to see them in the trees. We saw a young hawk sitting on the top of a tree begging for food. Apparently, it is old enough to hunt and the parents stop feeding it to get it to go out and feed itself, but some resist growing up. (Sound familiar?)

https://i2.wp.com/www.gardenbythesea.org/site/templates/images/logo.png

We also saw woodpeckers, warblers, bushtits, sparrows and seabirds. Most were moving too fast to photograph, but the gardens are irresistible for photos.

7.15.15 Bot gardensm

7.15.15 Birdwatching bot garsm

Though we waited for the wind and waves to abate, they did not, so we went on a field trip to Ukiah to see the Grace Hudson Museum and Sun House (her home).

7.16.15 Ukiahsm

The museum has four exhibit areas. Two small spaces show Hudson family history and Pomo baskets. A larger space exhibits Grace Hudson’s paintings. This was a bit of a shock as I knew nothing about her as a painter, other than that she was very successful in the late 19th and early 20th century. Her paintings are big-eyed, red-cheeked Pomo children, and some adults. The notes indicate that she was accurate in the details of clothing and household goods, but the people are obviously idealized. This was popular?

The front exhibit space was on contemporary Japanese bamboo weaving. It was a lovely exhibit with spectacular objects that involved a lot of intensive labor. Most artists shown are older Japanese men (one woman), and may take a year to create one piece. In a few of the cases, Pomo baskets from the museum collection were added to contrast a technique, and that was quite interesting.

http://www.gracehudsonmuseum.org/~gracehud/images/stories/article_images/img_tanabe_chikuunsai_iii-squares_and_circles.jpghttp://www.gracehudsonmuseum.org/~gracehud/images/stories/article_images/img_jenny-tray.jpg

I had expected to see more Pomo baskets, because that is what Grace Hudson and her husband were known for collecting. When you read about them, though, you find out that John Hudson worked for a time as a curator at the Field Museum under George Dorsey. Any collecting he did would have been for the Field Museum, which has a collection of baskets Hudson made. After falling out with Dorsey, Hudson returned to California and amassed a collection of Pomo basketry that he sold to the Smithsonian to finance construction of their home, that they called the Sun House. Perhaps there wasn’t much time or money left to collect their own baskets.

Our field trip to Ukiah showed us how lucky we are to be on the coast. In mid-afternoon in Ukiah it was 102º, breathtakingly hot. We drove back to Ft. Bragg through the redwoods and by the time we arrived, it was in the high 60s. It may not be swimming weather, but it is more comfortable than 100 degrees.

Friday we returned to Bruhel Point (see previous post) to do some more fishing. We saw this butterfly while crossing to the rocks from our parking spot. I haven’t been able to identify it.

7.17.15 Bruhel pt-017

Jonathan decided to carry his fishing pole guitar-style.

7.17.15 Bruhel ptsm

Once again, the fish were not with us. The water was pretty rough and we ended up hiking along the rocks to check out a small blowhole.

7.17.15 Bruhel pt-014sm

Is scum on the ocean natural or man-made? There was no obvious source for this.

7.17.15 Bruhel pt-005sm

There were some nice tidepools on the rocks,

7.17.15 Bruhel pt-003sm

 

 

 

 

 

and naturally sculpted rocks:

7.17.15 Bruhel pt-006sm

 

 

 

 

 

We hiked back to the car and called it a good day, even if it was still overcast and cold. After all, we could be in Ukiah!

Last but not least was the Mendocino Art and Craft Fair, at the Mendocino Art Center.

https://i2.wp.com/www.mendocinoartcenter.org/Images/July15/summer-fair-banner.png

The Art Center shows art, holds classes, invites visiting artists. I looked at the list  of classes, but they seem to let artists teach what they want, so there are no beginner classes and lots of painting on silk and electroplating, etc. These seemed way beyond beginning watercolor…..

However, I did my best to support local artists by visiting every booth in the show and buying a sensational blue beaded necklace from Carol Bernau, an artist from Oakland [Adornable, Art to wear for the young at heart]. My outfit didn’t exactly match, but I am sure I can find something better at home.

7.18.15 craft fair Mendo art ctr.15sm

7.18.15necklace

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Wildlife

11 Saturday Jul 2015

Posted by winifredcreamer in California

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Animals, Fishing

We’ve seen some wonderful creatures. Beautiful ones like a pale swallowtail butterfly:

7.3.15 pale swallowtail -002

On 7.11.15 we added an anise swallowtail butterfly:

7.11.15 Mile 63.81-0sm

Some are not so lovely but just as interesting. We had seen harbor seals at Russian Gulch:

harbor seals russian gulch-003

and just recently we saw California sea lions at Caspar Headlands. They are even bigger than harbor seals, dark brown, and often swim with one big black flipper sticking out of the water. We heard them barking in the water and couldn’t entirely figure out what they were. When we went back to fish again on 7/9 we saw what we think are the same pair hauled out on the rocks. OK, they do look better through binoculars.

7.9.15 ca sea lion caspar headlands-003

On 7.11.15 we also added to the difficult to see, curious animals with a young elephant seal that is molting on the beach at McKerricher state park. The rangers warn visitors to stay back, and the smell is an inducement to keeping your distance. This young seal is pretty miserable, but presumably will be back in the water and good to go soon.

7.11.15 elephant seal Mckerricher-003 7.11.15 elephant seal Mckerricher-002

 

 

Can you tell which of these is the elephant seal? Both seem to be molting.

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More unrequited fishing and Abalone, July 7, 2015

09 Thursday Jul 2015

Posted by winifredcreamer in California

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Fishing, Food, Tidepools

We decided to try fishing again, this time at Caspar Headlands, a place we’ve driven past. Reading about this area we found that a temporary pass is required, so we stopped by the Headquarters Building on the East side of Route 1 at Russian Gulch and were able to collect the required paper. Caspar Headlands is a relatively small area, state lands with access to the shore through a residential neighborhood. There are good places to fish and a lot to look at.

7.7.caspar headlands-013sm

While Jonathan fished, Paula and I looked around.

7.7.caspar headlands-006sm

7.7.caspar headlands-012sm

When I caught up to Jonathan and Paula back by the fishing spot, they had found a LIVE ABALONE! It was in a tide pool and the tide was just coming back in, so we got a good look at it and took a photo.

7.7.caspar headlands-018sm

That pale green circle is a sea anemone, the reddish oval below it is a red abalone. An aquarium docent I know said that if you brush the little feelers that stick out of the holes of an abalone, it will sometimes try to touch you with its foot. I got down as close to the water as I could and tiptoed my fingers across the abalone’s shell, trying to make contact with the feelers, but I didn’t feel them and then I felt a weird squishy thing and I jumped away from it. That was good for two reasons. The squishy thing was the abalone’s foot and according to Paula and Jonathan who were watching, as soon as it felt my finger it squeezed itself to the rock and pulled all its foot underneath the shell. By jumping up and stepping back up the rock to where the others were standing (slightly creeped out by the abalone’s touch) I just missed being completely swamped by a wave. The tide was coming in, so it was time to leave the abalone to its business.

Paula and I took a picture for mom (no hats, no sunglasses, make sure your face shows):

7.7.caspar headlands-003sm

Only a tiny bit smarmy–don’t tell mom.

PS. We didn’t catch any fish. We had a delicious birthday dinner at Mendo Bistro, right in the same building as our current apartment. We retreated back to the apartment, creme brulee and a super duper Sauterne Chateau Guiraud 2011 that Paula brought. We declared it a joint birthday treat.

 

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