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wasn't until the sixteenth century and the example
of the Portuguese that trunnels - or treenails -
were used, driven in transversely through the
planks. In this method the hull of the vessel is
built first and the ribs of the frames are built in
later. This is the traditional method of visual
construction by the master craftsman that is now
only being superseded by designs on paper enabling
the more universally accepted method of frame first
and shell later. |
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Maldivian dhoanis are the only vessels in the world
made primarily of coconut wood and it is testament
to the craftsmanship of their creators that they
last for twenty years and more if maintained with
frequent hauling, cleaning and oiling. After all,
the coconut palm is not actually a tree at all, but
a plant (cocus nucifera). |
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| The
earliest records, from Arab writers in the tenth to
twelfth centuries, indicate that the boats were
clearly capable of long sea journeys (which was not
the case with Sri Lankan and much Indian crafts), as
they had been sailing to and from Persia and Oman
for trading purposes for some time. Coir rope from
the coconut, was an important product of exchange,
but the other products were all gifts of the sea:
dried fish, ambergris, tortoise-shell and, above
all, cowrie shells. |
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| The
trade in crowries all around the Indian Ocean and
out into distant corners of the world, brought fame
and affluence to the tiny island kingdom from its
9th century origins to its demise between the 17th
and 18th centuries. Foreign trade had been
diminishing for some time and at this point it all
but stopped. As the country became lost to memory,
its only trade and practically its only link with
the outside world was now the sale of Dried fish,
known as Maldives Fish, to SriLanka. |
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Skipjack tuna
was just about the only thing taken from the sea. A
small part of the catch was consumed at home, the
rest was dried and sold, through Male, to Sri Lanka.
But, suddenly, in the early 70s' Sri Lanka stopped
importing Maldives Fish and the government had to
cast around for alternatives quickly. Tourism was
just starting, but a couple of developments in the
fishing industry were to have more immediate and
significant effects on the life of the average
Maldivian. |
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| A
few freezer vessels were brought into the country
and fishermen, for the very first time, were able to
sell their catch each day and receive cash for it.
Until this time, people essentially dealt in a
barter system of dried fish to the government for
imported rice and other goods. Without the need for
long, laborious hours boiling, smoking and drying
the fish, islanders particularly the women, were
also freed up to do other jobs. It is considered to
be a turning point in the history of the country,
especially when taken in conjunction with the other
major development that happened at the same time. |
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| After
a couple of thousand years of Sail-Power, the first
engines were levered into fishing dhoanis. The
fishermen were so dismissive of them at first, so
sure that they had no advantages but would certainly
scare the fish off, that it took all the government
powers of persuasion to get a few leading citizens
to take the four engines that had been donated as
part of a UNDP package. It very quickly became
clear, however, that they were a good thing, and
within a few short years practically the whole
fishing fleet was mechanized. |
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| Before
mechanization, if there was no wind you had to row
to the bait ground - if it was a long way away you
could be tired and irritable before the day had
properly begun. without a pump to circulate the
water in the hole (to keep the bait fish alive),
three people were engaged in constantly baling,
unable to fish. and under sail, your range was very
limited, nearly always within sight of land. If the
catch was good you didn't mind rowing back, But if
it wasn't well ........... it was a hard life
being a fishermen. |
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| From
1975 onwards, the dhoani went through a constant
series of redesigns, making it more suitable for the
engine, standardizing its construction, and expanding its capacity. At the same
time onshore facilities - for chilling, freezing and
canning - were being constructed and enlarged to
deal with the increased cathc. |
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Alifushi brought out their 50 foot, third generation
at around the time that koodoo fish purchasing and
cold storage complex opened on Gaafu Alifu, under
Third World Bank fisheries Project. Koodoo was the
model of a modern fish processing facility. Nobody
imagined that the enterprise of a few entrepreneurs
and boat-builders would outstrip its capacity in
just a few years. |
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Villingil, the capital of Gaafu Alifu, is the next
door island to Koodoo. The fishermen at North reckoned that
whatever size vessel they might be able to build, koodhoo would be able to buy
their catch. so they set
about building 60 footer to 90 footer boat in North
Atolls.
This would later be called the Large Fishing Vessel
Generation - but, unfortunately for the South Atolls
these bigger dhoanis were not appropriate due to the
low catches, seasonality, higher fuel costs,
implementation of day-fishery. |
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didn't stop there, however, for North Atoll's success was
obvious for all to see and now everyone is out to
build something big for themselves. And so the
fourth
generation came into being in the first years of
this century. Without a standard size or model of
construction (many builders are working in
isolation, with different materials, to different
specifications), the classic shape of the dhoani is
being distorted and the visual link with its ancient
predecessors is being broken. But the method of
fishing is still exactly the same - the pure Pole &
Line and/or Hand-Line. |
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are no balers anymore but the other positions
remain: Captain, Bait Master, Master Fishermen and
Crew. The action begins when a school of tuna is
sighted. the bait master scatters scoops of baitfish
from the hold all over the surface where the fish
are feeding. Jets of water are sprayed from the boat
to increase the splatter and work up a frenzy of
feeding excitement in the tuna. then the lines are
dashed into the middle. The hook is curved and
blunt, it doesn't get caught in the mouth. Like the
fly in fly-fishing, it pretends to be the victims
favourite food - a jumping silver sprat, a juvenile
fusilier, a cardinalfish, or an anchovy. |
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| Like
any top sports people, the master fishermen have
superior timing and technique, usually natural but
also acquired and refined over years. To feel in
your hands so far from the fish the moment to pull
and arc the fish out of the water over the boat, to
flick the hook clear from the mouth and return it to
the water as the fish hits the deck. That is the
extraordinary skill of the darkened, weather-beaten
Maldivian fishermen. It has been this way for longer
than anyone knows and will stay that way for as long
as dolphin-friendly tuna is demanded. |
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| Purse
seine ships, using extensive nets, have been active
in the Indian Ocean for a decade or so, and although
the Spanish and French fleets are catching up,
Maldives is still the leading nation, accounting for
a quarter of the tuna caught in the ocean. |
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| The
remarkable thing is, from a total catch of 164,000
metric tons in 2002, half of it was exported and
half of it was consumed at home. That is more than
ton of tuna a year for every family of four in the
country. Perhaps there should be a new entry in the
Guinness Book of Records. |
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