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1. Foreword

The tuna fishery is one of the oldest organised fisheries in the world, and the bluefin tuna trap fishery is certainly
the oldest industrial fishery as far as we know, dating back at least 26 centuries. Literature on the tuna fisheries is
one of the most relevant among that of all fisheries, and papers describing the bluefin tuna fisheries are available
since at least VII b.C. (Adams, 1883; Aeliano, II b.C.; Aristotelis, 1635; Athaeneus di Neucratis, II b.C.; Aubet,
1987, Azcoytia, 2007a, 2007b, 2007c, 2008, 2009, 2011; Bacci, 1982; Baskett, 1899; Bekker-Nielsen, 2005;
Bekker-Nielsen & Casasola, 2010; Ben Lazreg et al., 1995; Bernard Casasola, 2009, 2011; Campos et al., 1999;
Consolo, 1987; Corwin, 1929; Curtis, 1988, 1991, 2005; Del Rosso, 1905; Di Natale, 2012; Doumenge, 1998,
1999a; Dumont, 1976-1977, 1981; Edmondson, 1987, 1990; Eschilo, 472 b.C.; Esopo, 1592; Étienne & Mayet,
2002; Fernández-Duro, 1866; Fernandez Gómez et al., 2007; Fernández Pèrez, n.d.; García Vargas, 2001;
García Vargas & Florido del Corral, 2010; Habibi, 2011; Herodotus, V b.C., Levine, 2006; Mastromarco, 1998;
Merino, 1991; Mila y Pinell, 1902; Morales-Muñiz & Roselló-Izquierdo, 2007, 2008; Moreno Páramo & Abad
Casal, 1972; Muñoz Vincente & de Frutos Reyes, 1999, 2004; Omerus, VII b.C.; Oppianus, 177 b.C.; Pepe,
2006; Pérez Gomez et Al., 2007; Philostratus de Lemnos, III b.C.; Plinius, 65 a.D.; Ponsich & Tarradel, 1965;
Powell, 1996, Radclife, 1921; Smidth, 1876; Strabonis I b.C.; Theocritus, III b.C.; Vargas et Al., 2010; VV.AA.,
2001, 2204, 2006). More ancient bluefin tuna fisheries are not documented, even though it is possible that the
ancient Egyptians were able to fish this species.

According to archaeological findings, bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus, Linnaeus, 1758) was exploited in the
Mediterranean Sea more than 11,200 years ago. The first known document on the bluefin tuna fishery is
engraved on the rocky walls of Genovese’s Cave on the isle of Levanzo (Egadi Islands, W. Sicily, Italy), dated
about 9,200 years b.C. (Figure 1). It is evident that since these remote times, bluefin tuna was regularly a
common food resource for the Mediterranean inhabitants and a basic component in their diet (Curtis, 1991;
Dumont, 1981; Powell, 1996), at least for those living close to the coasts. Archaelogical evidences show that the
bluefin tuna fishery was also present since IV b.C. in the Black Sea (Lebedev & Lapin, 1954; Morales et Al,
2007). Later images, like the scene of cutting a tuna painted on a Greek wine pitcher in the VI century b.C.
(Figure 2), or the marvelous image of a tuna vendor on a “Siciliota” pottery from the IV century b.C. at the
Mandralisca Museum in Cefalù (Sicily, Italy), show that trade of bluefin tuna, which was mostly marketed fresh
at that time, was a common activity (Figure 3), while the presence of tunas on several ancient Ibero-Hispanic
coins (from III b.C.) from various Moroccan, Spanish and Portuguese sites shows the economic important of this
activity during Phoenician times (Figure 4).

Whilst the bluefin tuna fisheries are documented in several historical reports, it is still very difficult to
understand the gears that were used in these fisheries. The fishery carried out by the Phoenicians in many places
along the Mediterranean and the eastern Atlantic coast is perfectly documented in terms of factories and methods
for preserving the tunas, but not at all about the fishing gears that were used at that time. The first attempt to
describe the bluefin tuna fishery in the Greek period is from Oppianus (177 a.C.), since in its poem Halieutica
the fishery is widely reported. According to Oppianus, the tunas were spotted from towers along the coast, and
they used nets and up to five vessels to catch and kill the tunas. It is not clear if they used a set net or a boat seine
or a combination of both, as several translations are able to fit all hypotheses. According to the first Italian
translation made by Salvini in 1728, it seems that a set trap was used, because the description refers to “nets set
like a town, with galleries, entrances and spaces”, and possibly this is the first description of a bluefin tuna trap.

During Roman times, several marine fisheries were very well described by various authors, and the bluefin tuna
fishery was mentioned in several texts, including Plinius (65 a.D.), however always without any acceptable
description of the gear used at that time. Furthermore, many Roman fisheries are very well described in mosaics
in several sites, but not one of them is really showing a bluefin tuna fishery. The only mosaic sometimes
mentioned by a few historical reports on tuna fishery is that in the Bardo National Musem in Tunis, but the
fishing representation, showing fishermen with harpoons and nets (and maybe also tunas but not as the target of
the fishery) seems mostly related to bottom species. The famous mosaic depicting a seine fishery in Piazza
Armerina (Sicily), where one person seems to be holding a swordfish, while other fish are close to the net, was
not considered as an image of a trap or a seine fishing for bluefin tuna, although some scientists have doubts.
The absence of any mosaics or wall paintings showing the bluefin tuna fisheries in Roman times is particularly
strange, because these fisheries were extremely important at that time, mostly for the production of “garum”
sauce. Several Roman villas close to areas where tuna factories were located do not have any mosaic or painting
with tunas or tuna fishing activity, and this is still unexplained.

There is a long period of time without precise descriptions of bluefin tuna fisheries, at least until the X and the
XI centuries. The famous Arab geographer Al-Idrisi (1154) reports the location of various tuna traps along the

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