Polynesian fish trap

Fish trap at low tide (graphic)

A Polynesian fish trap is an area in the shallow sea that people have surrounded with a water-permeable, loosely piled stone wall. It is 1 to 2 meters high and works solely through ebb and flow . There are small traps, but also very large ones, up to 200 meters in length.

At high tide, many fish try to save themselves from their predators by swimming as far as possible to the beach. Other fish look for their food near the shore. They swim over the stone wall, which is about 1 to 7 meters below the water surface at high tide. If the water slowly recedes at low tide, it runs off between the stones of the wall. Eventually the wall looks out of the water and blocks the way to the sea. The fish try to stay near the bank as long as possible. Therefore, they almost always miss the last moment when they can leave the trap. People only have to wait until the water has completely drained through the loosely piled stones and can then collect the fish. Often corals and shells attach themselves to the fish traps and hold the walls together. That is why there are fish traps in Polynesia that are hundreds of years old. They require little maintenance and care.

In the Still Bay or Stilbaai ( Afrikaans ) South African identical fish traps were the Khoikhoi discovered from pre-colonial times.

Individual evidence

↑ Heinz Volz: Survival in nature and the environment . P. 199 (Which edition ?, now 18)
^ John Gribble: Pre-Colonial Fish Traps On the South Western Cape Coast, South Africa . In: R. Grenier, D. Nutley, I. Cochran (Eds.): Underwater Cultural Heritage at Risk: Managing Natural and Human Impacts . ICOMOS , Paris 2006, pp. 29–31.

[1] Heinz Volz: Survival in nature and the environment . P. 199 (Which edition ?, now 18)

[2] John Gribble: Pre-Colonial Fish Traps On the South Western Cape Coast, South Africa . In: R. Grenier, D. Nutley, I. Cochran (Eds.): Underwater Cultural Heritage at Risk: Managing Natural and Human Impacts . ICOMOS , Paris 2006, pp. 29–31.