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Mussel fishermen in Galicia maintain the tradition
It is the early morning hours in November, around 30 kilometers west of Santiago de Compostela. The season has just started. Where a river meets the Atlantic Ocean, hundreds of women go into the water in the light of their headlamps to look for cockles and clams in the river bed. Since the sustainability of the mussel stocks is to be guaranteed, only licensed fisher women are allowed to participate. The season is limited to the months of October to March. The technology they use has been passed down through many generations. 58-year-old Conchita is one of them: “It’s a job that gives you a feeling of freedom. You’re like a seagull. I’ve been fascinated by that since I was a little girl. I skipped school to go where Now the promenade is. Trucks used to be parked there. And the boats carried up to 50 kilograms of mussels in a large box. But the women didn’t work like we do today. They worked with bare feet and wore normal clothes. ” The mussel fishermen’s greatest wish is that this natural tradition is preserved. There are currently around 4,000 people doing this job. These are almost exclusively women. The season lasts around six months and earnings are around 2,000 euros per month.
With large rakes they comb through the sand to find the coveted mussels.