Still holding the sky, and before dawn breaks, Paulo Louro is already heading out to sea. If the weather permits, the Volta a Vir leaves the port of Lagoa before the first light, the bottom fishing gear ready to be cast. The line stretches, eighty hooks at a time, awaiting the fish that will reach the collection point before noon, heading straight for the Ponta Delgada auction.
This is how the fishing is done, two hundred days a year, in a rhythm set by the sea and the knowledge passed down through generations. By lunchtime, Paulo is on the quay, preparing the gamelas for the next trip.
At Octant Ponta Delgada, the fish that reaches the table tells this story – of an ancient trade, calloused hands, and a sea that continues to dictate time and life.
Around lunchtime, it is common to find Paulo on the dock, preparing his nets. The palangre de fundo consists of boxes (gamelas), where the line is coiled, and thrown into the sea with eighty hooks. Pieces of fish, chicharro, squid, and swordfish are used as bait. For each trip to the sea, Paulo takes about twenty gamelas.
Paulo has been a fisherman since he was born, in 1985.
