BARBATE, Spain—The season for an ancient and spectacular tuna-fishing technique has begun off Spain's southwest coast, and fishermen fear it could soon disappear if fleets of factory ships elsewhere keep overfishing prized Atlantic bluefin tuna.
In the method the Spanish called "almadraba," fishermen stretch maze-like nets from sandy beaches to catch the bluefin, a practice that dates from when Phoenician traders sailed to these shores 1,000 years before the birth of Christ.
This laborious harvest, which includes lifting nets heaving with fish onto ships, is timed to coincide with annual migrations by tuna from the Atlantic to lay eggs in warm Mediterranean waters.
Most environmental groups say the almadraba technique does not represent a serious threat to the survival of bluefin tuna, but they agree overfishing by fleets of factory ships in international waters needs to be cut drastically to save the species.
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