Fishing

Fishing is one of the traditional activities of the Delta's inhabitants, which they have been engaged in throughout history and continue to do so today. Various fishing methods have been used depending on the targeted fish species and the location of the fishing.

Thus, when capturing sturgeons was allowed, early fishing means were using giant steel hooks, called „carmace”, placed 1 meter above water bottom (sea or Danube), in which sturgeons would get stuck when passing by. Later, a type of large fishing net called “ohană” was used but starting with 2006 the sturgeon fishing was banned as they become endangered species.

Another tool used for fishing at sea, both in the past and present days, is the “talian”, a type of fyke net by which the fish is directed into a trap from which it cannot escape. It is used to catch bluefish, gray mullet, garfish or horse mackerel. The turbot, a very appreciated species for its particular taste, is often caught using the nets placed on the bottom of the sea. 

In the channels and lakes of the Danube Delta, other types of fyke nets and gillnets are used to catch carp, pike, catfish or zander.

The large amounts of fish harvested in the past led to the development of fisheries (“cherhana”) in the area, and even a fish canning factory and a guanine factory (raw material for nail polish and aircraft paint, obtained through thermal and chemical treatment of small marine fish). Before refrigeration became available, the inhabitants of the Danube Delta were building “ice houses” but between all of these, only the fisheries still stand today.