Dutch Culture
Smoking and trading fish was an important professional branch in Monnickendam. This did not apply to catching the fish, mainly the inhabitants of Volendam, Marken and Durgerdam did.
With the arrival of the Afsluitdijk, the fishing industry was hit hard and almost all smokehouses disappeared from the city, except two.
The eel smokehouse has almost disappeared from Monnickendam, but in the past the town was full of eel smokehouses.
Smoking and trading fish was an important professional branch in Monnickendam. This did not apply to catching the fish, mainly the inhabitants of Volendam, Marken and Durgerdam did.
With the arrival of the Afsluitdijk, the fishing industry was hit hard and almost all smokehouses disappeared from the city, except two.
The arrival of the Afsluitdijk in 1932 brought about a major change in the fish stock. Within a few years, the salty sea had become a fresh water lake. The sea fish, including the Zuiderzee herring, disappeared. Fortunately the eel remained.
This fish lives in freshwater, but spawns in the salty waters of the Atlantic. The few months old and transparent glass eels retreat from the ocean to the fresh water. After a stay of between 5 and 15 years in the fresh water, the eels swim to the spawning grounds where they come from. The amount of glass eel has decreased enormously in recent decades worldwide, as a result of which fewer eels swim in the IJsselmeer. A number of strict measures have been announced to save the eel from extinction. One of the measures is a total fishing ban in the period September-November. Every year it is determined whether such a ban is necessary in the IJsselmeer.
Top right: Arie Kaars, a striking figure in Monnickendam. hobby eel smoker and movie star. And one of about 125 participants in the annual eel smoking competition.
No comments:
Post a Comment