Pullin' Seine: Insane!

So . . . I'm still away on holiday in Trinidad but thought I'd take a few minutes to fill you all in on one of the impromptu activities I took part in here.  While at a beach house for the weekend in Mayaro (at the southeastern tip of Trinidad, in case you're interested) I has the opportunity to take part in "pulling seine," or beach-front net fishing.  It was a new experience for me, and one that I won't soon forget, even after the scars from the rope have healed.

Pulling seine basically involves two steps - placing the net out on the ocean, which is done with a boat and, you know, real fishermen, not me; and pulling in the net and whatever's caught in it from the beach (where the real fishermen slum with tourists such as I).  The net has floats on the top and weights at the bottom, so it just scoops up whatever is available.

The fishermen (and they are all men - the only females I saw pulling in the net were the wife of one of the men and a little girl who pulled for a few minutes) have no shortage of volunteers, because traditionally if you help pull seine you get some of the catch.  Well, I was walking along the beach with my family and they were pulling.  One of them told me "put your hand in it too" so I joined in just for laughs.  It was hard work - heavy net, rough, wet rope, no gloves - but hey, I was barefoot on the beach, the sun was shining, so what was there to complain about?  Because of the way the seine works it has to be pulled alternatingly from both ends, so I helped on one side until it was far enough in and the rope was secured while the other side was pulled.  I took a break for a while (as did the real fishermen - they went for a beer, and bear in mind this was about 9 AM) while others pulled the rope.  I realized I had been "roped in" early, because I ended up pulling for about 80% of the 3 hours it took to bring in the net, whereas others joined in halfway through or later, likely to receive the same reward as I.

Which brings me to one of the things that interests me about it.  The fish that the tourists were working for would have cost them the equivalent of $10-15 Canadian, and yet people were working in the hot sun, doing heavier manual labour than they would if you paid them that amount.  So it seems that rewarding people with a prize related to their efforts, rather than cash, is a pretty good incentive.

There was much speculation as to why the net was so slow in coming in.  Fishermen and tourists alike had their opinions: a big catch (nope); mud accumulating on the ocean floor from the heavy rains the previous day (possible, but it turned to be wrong); or a big coconut tree stuck in the net (bingo!).  The boat was sent out, the tree pulled in, and finally the catch could be glimpsed.  Disappointingly small.  A half-dozen large fish, several smaller fish (of which I took four as compensation), and four stingrays (three of which were returned to the ocean - the fourth had its wings cut off by some sadistic creep and was left to die on the beach while being pecked at by birds).

I don't expect that this was a typical haul, because people make their living off of pulling seine, so I expect other catches are larger.  But I find it interesting that people on holiday are willing to put in back-breaking labour for a relatively small reward.  And I am the biggest such example of all, because given all the work I put in and the rope burns and sunburn I acquired while doing it, I should feel a little robbed.  But I don't, and I would probably do it again if the opportunity arose.  And guess what - I don't even eat fish.