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But it is not the case to re-write this long story, because it is written and well described in many papers, here
included in the bibliography, which anyway is largely incomplete2; for further old references, see the import and
review made by Corwin (1930). But it is important to bear in mind some important steps of the bluefin tuna
fishery over the centuries and particularly in the most recent times, trying to better understand the actual
situation.

At the same time, it is important to point out the incoherencies and the gaps in our current knowledge, with the
purpose to address the various issues in the proper way.

3. The trap fishery

The tuna trap fishery was apparently initiated by Phoenicia (Aubet, 1987, Bacci, 1982, 1984, Basile, 1992; Ben
Lazreg et al., 1995) and then continued by the Romans and the Arabs, and all the following people inhabiting the
Mediterranean coasts, the adjacent areas in the Strait of Bosphorus and the South Spanish and South Portuguese
coasts in the Atlantic Ocean (Bresc, 1981, 1984, 1986, 1987).

It is not clear to understand with which gear this fishery was carried out in ancient times. According to some
early engravings at the end of the 16th century (Braun & Hogenberg, 1572-1617), it is sure that tuna traps were
using not only set trap nets, but also huge beach seines, sometimes of various types. This is something not
commonly known, having a great relevance to better understand the distribution of tuna schools, which were
clearly very close to the coast at that time.

Later on and particularly in the 18th century, there are not many tracks of these beach seines, while the set tuna
traps have a lot of detailed information and many drawings and engravings tell us a lot of details (Cetti, 1777;
Doneddu, 1983; Duhamel de Monceau, 1769-1782; Gaetani, 1797; Gaetani di Villabianca, 1795; Mongitore,
1743; Pugnatore, 1595; Sañez Reguart, 1781; Sarmiento, 1757; Valle, 1800). On the contrary, the information
about the distribution of tuna traps along the coasts is very incomplete and only in a few areas there is a good list
of the tuna traps active at that time.

Several tuna traps were used also to catch small tuna species together with the bluefin tuna (Mouton, 2004;
Cattaneo Vietti & Bava, 2009), and this fact caused some confusion in the past to properly understand the
number of traps effectively targeting only bluefin tuna.

At the end of the 19th century there are good maps available and then there is the possibility to better understand
how and where the bluefin tuna issues were carried out at that time, mostly by using the maps provided by
Pavesi (1899) and Parona (1919).

Many other scientific works report data on the tuna trap fishery (Abid & Idrissi, 2009; Alliata, 1951; Angotsi,
1901, 1927; Anonimous, 1952; Arena, 1963, 1985, 1986a; Arena & Li Greci, 1970; Avolio, 1805; Belloc, 1961;
Consolo, 1986; Costanza, 2000; D’Amico, 1816; Dean et al., 2003; De Cristofaro, 1970; De Miranda y Riveras,
1927; De Salas & García Solá, 1876; Di Natale, 1988a, 1990, 1991, 1999, 2008; Di Natale et al., 2006a; Di
Natale & Notarbartolo di Sciara, 1994; Doumenge, 1998; Fernandez Gómez, 2007; Ganiage, 1960; Genovese,
1952, 1953b, 1960; Gordillo Acosta, 1984; Guaiana, 2000; Guggino, 1977; Guggino et al., 1977; Italiano, 2006;
Lemos & Gomes, 2004; Li Greci et al., 1991; Lippi Guidi, 1993; Lo Coco, 2006; Lo Curzio & Sisci, 1991;
Maggio, 2000; Manetti, 2001; Mariotti, 2003; Martelli, 1926: Mert et al., 2000; Militello, 1937; Mondardini,
1999; Ninni, 1921b, Piccinetti & Omiccioli, 1999; Ravazza, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005; Ravier-Mailly,
2003; Rodríguez-Roda, 1964, 1966a, 1966b, 1967, 1969a, 1970a, 1970b, 1977, 1980b; Roule, 1921, 1926;
Rubino, 1995; Sarà, 1983, 1988; Scaccini, 1965; Scaccini & Pagnanella, 1965a, 1965b; Scordia, 1925, 1930,
1931, 1933, 1934a, 1936c, 1937c, 1939b; Sechi, 1918; Sole, 1965; Silvestri, 2003; Volpi Lisjiak, 1996).

Table 1 shows in very clearly that the number of tuna traps was very important in the Mediterranean and in the
adjacent areas and, at the same time, that the number of traps in each country varied considerably in the short
period taken into account by Pavesi (1899) and Parona (1919).

2 The author apologises for any omissions in the bibliography, due to time constrains that prevented a more in-depth analysis of the numerous
scientific papers presented to the ICCAT SCRS in the last decades, which have nonetheless been considered in the text. The literature
included in this text is mostly dedicated to papers that are often forgotten or other relevant scientific works. Any omission is not by deliberate
will.

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