Witnessing a traditional way of fishing

I spent the night on the beach of Costa de Lavos. In the morning I see some movement on the beach. A tractor is doing something near a fishing boat. I get closer and ask one of the guys what’s going on. They are going to pull the nets in. I am excited, I want to see this. It’s a kind of conic bag of nets that has been positioned in the sea with a boat. Two tractors are pulling in the xavaga, as the bag is called. In the past this was done by oxes. The oxes are not allowed on the beach anymore since the 80’s, because they seemed to pollute the beach. When the xavaga is on shore, everyone runs to see what is in it. Excitement about one large fish. I ask if this is small, medium or large catch. It seems to be a small one. The fish is thrown into large buckets and a tractor brings it to a tent on the beach. The tractor honks to warn the village fresh fish arrived. The fishermen start sorting the fish on a large table in the tent. It’s difficult to look at the dying fish without feeling a murderer. It really takes a long time before they stop breathing. At least 20 minutes. It’s an awful slow death. Later I hear this kind of fishing is called Arte Xavega and is done in less villages every year. In Nazaré it seems to be done only for tourists. Here I was the only tourist watching.