54 INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY—PUBLICATION NO. 7 
Fishing techniques and associated tools.— 
Fishing with native Tarascan nets predominates in 
Lakes Patzcuaro and Zirahuén. Both the net and 
the hook were employed in pre-Conquest times,!! 
but at present the latter is of secondary impor- 
tance. The large chinchorros (uatika) and the 
smaller éerémekuas are the only nets used today. 
The former is a seine, employed for catching 
pescado blanco and trucha in midlake, while the 
latter, a gill net with a fine mesh, is placed along 
shore to trap the small é‘ara4ri and k‘uerépu 1” 
(pl. 8). Prior to the introduction of the trucha 
the picturesque mariposa or butterfly nets (k‘oru- 
e¢a) were commonly employed for catching t*iru. 
Owing to the near extinction of this fish, these nets 
are no longer seen, except in Janitzio, where they 
are displayed to tourists. The hand net (cuchara, 
uiripu, ¢itiru) has likewise practically disappeared. 
All nets used by the P&tzcuaro fisherman are 
home-woven. 
Other fishing tools include the spear (arpén, 
atdérakua), now used to kill trucha in shallow 
water, and the hook (anzuelo, jupikata-térakua) .!¥ 
Shore traps are occasionally used by a few fishers 
of Uricho and Pudcuaro. Fish poisons are not 
employed. To improve habitat conditions of 
open-water fish, such as pescado blanco, portions 
of the lake bottom are often cleared of aquatic 
grasses (zacate, pu¢irini) with the uarématdrakua, 
a pole 3 m. long with a sickle attached to the end. 
An indispensible fishing tool and means of water 
transport is the Tarascan canoe, a flat-bottom 
dugout hewn from a pine or fir log. Owing to the 
121 According to the Relacién de Michoac4n, Tarascan officials oversaw the 
net fishermen and those who fished with hooks (p. 16). Moreover, “. . . de 
noche pescan con red y de dia con ansuelo” (p. 149). 
122 The chinchorro often measures 100 to 150 m. long and 8 m. wide. In the 
center is a pocket (bolsa) of fine mesh. Four people are necessary to handle 
the net in midlake, and it is usually operated from one boat. The net is 
manipulated by ropes (an¢itatarakueéa), 50 to 60 m. long attached to its 
twoends. Once the net is cast, it is formed in a semicircle and slowly pulled 
forward and upward, while the catch setiles into the bolsa. The éerémekua 
is usually 6 to 8 m. long and 40 cm, wide. This net is used somewhat like a 
trap. It is fastened to poles in shallow water near the shore and left for 2 or 
3 hours. When lifted, the net usually contains several small littoral fish, 
their heads caught in the fine mesh. This type of éerémekua can be operated 
by one person. A longer Gerémekua (often 100 m. in length) with a coarser 
mesh is sometimes used to catch pescado blanco in deep water offshore. Like 
the smaller variety, it is operated by one person, who attaches the top of the 
net to log floats and one end to his canoe. The net and boat are permitted 
to drift in midlake usually through the night, while the attendant gathers in 
the trapped fish from time to time. 
13 The atarakua is composed of a stalk of carrizo 4 m. long, to the end 
of which is attached a long barbed-iron point (60 cm. long). The spear is 
hurled either above or beneath the water. Regarding the use of the anzuelo, 
the cord supporting the hook is usually attached to a piece of carrizo or otate, 
1 m. long, a series of which is permitted to float on the water. A strike is 
indicated by the tilting of the stick, which is hurriedly picked up by the 
boatman, 
drying up of lakes in the northern and western 
sections of Tarasca, the distribution of the dugout 
has decreased in area during the last 100 years. 
At the present time the Tarascan boat is used on 
Lakes Patzcuaro, Zirahuén, Cuitzeo, and Chapala; 
two old dugouts on the small pond at Tarejero 
represent the remnants of the once extensive canoe 
traffic in the Zacapu lagoon.'* Most of the Lake 
Patzcuaro boats are made in the Sierra settlements 
of Cumachuén, Capacuaro, and in the highlands 
to the south, mainly around the rancho of Santa 
Juana. The boats are dragged to the lake shore, 
where they sell for 100 to more than 600 pesos 
each. They are said to last for 3 to 5 years before 
becoming waterlogged. Two sizes of boats are 
seen on Lake Pétzcuaro—the small ié4zuta for two 
to four persons, used for shore fishing, and the 
larger tep4ri, which carries from four to eight 
individuals and is employed in midlake fishing 
and for transport. "The smaller boat is paddled 
with the pala or 8étakua, which has a round blade 
of pine (25 & 28 cm.) attached to a handle of oak 
or tejocote varying in length from 30 cm. (for 
children) to over 2m. The larger canoes are both 
paddled and rowed. Sierra folk from Cumachuén 
and Capacuaro manufacture oars and paddles, 
which they market in Erongaricuaro and Paétz- 
cuaro. 
Fishing methods.—In most parts of the lake, 
fishing is done in the early morning hours between 
5 and 10 o’clock. Fishing is seasonal, most 
activity occurring during the dry season (Novem- 
ber to May). Chinchorreros usually operate in 
groups of four; often blood relations, the group 
divides the catch equally. An owner of a net and 
boat often hires peones to help with the chinchorro, 
paying wages or dividing the catch. The wife 
and children occasionally help set the éerémekua 
along the shore, and often women aid with the 
chinchorro. Midlake fishing is open to all inhabi- 
tants of the Lake area, who pay a federal license 
of 1.50 pesos annually. By custom, however, the 
people of a particular settlement have exclusive 
fishing rights along the shore of their lands; those 
from other pueblos may not fish the shores of 
14 As late as 1872 heavy canoe traffic is described between TareJero and 
Zacapu (Pérez Herndéndez, 1872, p. 119). Late in the 16th century small 
reed balsas were used on Lake Chapala (Ponce Relacion, vol. 2, pp. 18-20). 
125 Measurements of the dugouts: The itézuta has a length of 2.5 m. to 
6.5 m., width of 60 cm., and depth of 40cm.; the tepari ranges from 6.5 to 11m 
long, 1 m. wide, and 50 em. deep. 
