102 



INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY PUBLICATION NO. 6 



Agua, where fishing (along with agriculture 

 during the rainy season) is the principal oc- 

 cupation. Tzintzuntzan fishermen usually work 

 with fishermen from these settlements, either 

 hiring them as peons to help or going themselves 

 to work for them as peons. 



FISH TAKEN 



The principal commercial fishes are includ- 

 ed in three genera. Most famous and highly 

 esteemed is the pescado bianco ("white fish," 

 T. churucha), a fresh water smelt of the genus 

 Chirostoma. Several very similar species are 

 found, the most important of which are estor, 

 jordani, bartani, and michoacanae. Members 

 of the same genus are found in a number of 

 other Mexican lakes, including nearby Zira- 

 huen, Chapala, and Xochimilco. The khuerepu 

 is the young of these species; economically it 

 may be considered a different type since it is 

 taken in a different manner and, unlike the larg- 

 er ones, preserved by drying. The young Chi- 

 rostoma bartoni is known as charal (T. cliarari). 

 The delicately flavored but bony akumura {Al- 

 gansea lacustris) is the favorite of many people 

 for eating. Several small species of minnow- 

 like fish are known collectively as thiru [Alio- 

 toca vivipara, Neoophorus diazi, Skiffia lermae, 

 Goodea luitpoldii). 



The trucha is the large-mouth black bass {Mi- 

 cro pterus salmoides) and not, as the name indi- 

 cates, a trout. The date of its introduction in 

 Lake Patzcuaro is open to question. The Bole- 

 tin del Departamento Forestal y de Caza y Pes- 

 ca (1937, p. 154), states that the black bass was 

 first introduced into Mexico "about" 1910, and 

 into Lake Patzcuaro in 1929. This date is 1 

 year earlier than the beginning of the term of 

 governorship of Lazaro Cardenas, who is pop- 

 ularly credited with the innovation. Checked 

 with corollary information it appears to be 

 about correct. By 1937 the trucha had so mul- 

 tiplied as to constitute a serious threat to the 

 young of the indigenous species, and Tarascan 

 fishermen firmly believe that it is responsible 

 for the almost complete disappearance of the 

 thiru. 



FISHING TECHNIQUES 



Net fishing, mostly from canoes, is the only 

 important commercial technique, though occa- 



sionally a gig is used for bass, and hooks baited 

 with angleworms formerly were used for the 

 thiru. The largest net is the chinchorro, a seine 

 which averages from 100 to 150 m. in length 

 and 8 m. in width, with a mesh of about 2 cm. 

 The middle section is of finer mesh than the 

 rest, and in the form of a 60/50 or pocket, whose 

 position in the water is marked by a gourd float. 

 A stout maguey fiber rope runs along the top 

 and bottom of this net, the top rope piercing 

 15-cm. long floats of the light colorin wood. 

 Sinkers in the form of unworked stones of 4 to 

 8 kilos are tied to the lower rope when fishing 

 for bass; otherwise sinkers are not used. The 

 seine is used for all kinds of fish, but especially 

 for white fish and bass. 



The ch-eremekua is a gill net which is made in 

 two sizes: a very fine mesh of 0.7 to 0.8 cm. for 

 the khuerepu, and a larger mesh of about 2.8 

 cm. for white fish. Size of nets, however, is 

 measured by number of meshes, and not by me- 

 ters. Thus, both have a width of 60 or 80 

 meshes which, since they are oblique to the hori- 

 zontal, means a width of 60 or 80 cm. for the 

 small gill net, and three to four times that for 

 the large one. Lengths are in terms of sections 

 of 500 meshes, ranging up to 2,500 or 3,000 as 

 a maximum. Gill nets may be joined together 

 to form huge nets far longer than the seine, 

 with a maximum length of perhaps 250 m. 



The only present commercial value of the 

 beautiful mnriposa ("butterfly") or cuchara 

 ("spoon") net (T. uiripu), which in the mind 

 of the tourist is the typical net of the lake, is 

 the income derived from posing for pictures. 

 It is a dip net formed from two semicircular 

 pieces of wood hafted to shorter grooved cross 

 bars which in turn are fastened to the handle. 

 The drawing (fig. 21) is that of a model; real 

 nets have a much wider grooved cross bar than 

 that shown in detail, often 2 to 4 m. in diameter. 

 Full-size nets are from 3 to 7 m. in diameter, 

 and perhaps two-thirds as wide. 



The fish gig is composed of two barbed iron 

 points from 50 to 100 cm. in length. These are 

 hafted to a wooden shaft so that they are 3 or 

 4 cm. apart, and the shaft in turn is hafted to a 

 bamboo pole, so that the entire instrument may 

 have a length of 3 m. The gig proper was 

 observed, but no completely assembled instru- 

 ment was found. 



