Octopus Choreographies. Small-scale Fisheries in Angeiras, Portugal

Small-scale Fisheries in Angeiras, Portugal Octopus Choreographies Comics, November 2025 Between 22 and 27 September 2024, the Fishing Architecture research team conducted a workshop to develop its methodologies focusing on the small- -scale fisheries community of Angeiras, in the north of Portugal. This comic is the first instalment of a series to bring these fisheries choreographies to a wider audience. Drawings were authored by Raquel Silva who developed the storytelling with André Tavares and Rafael Sousa Santos, who wrote the texts. Research is indebted to the workshop team, as well as the 2023 preceding workshop, who also included Alice Nouvet, Daniel Duarte Pereira, José Pedro Fernandes, Patrícia Reis and Inês Guilherme. 2024 workshop team: André Tavares, Rafael Sousa Santos, Sónia Gabriel, Garðar Eyjólfsson, Cláudia Soares, Lise Freitas, Will Gibbs, Mafalda Rangel, João Pontes, Teresa Alexandre, Elsa Froufe, Mónica Felício, Diana Feijó, Alberto Rocha, Manuel Nande, André Machado, Diego Inglez de Souza, Letícia Carmo, Hon Chio Lai, and Livia Sinigaglia, with the special participation of Cristina Brito, Patrícia Carvalho, Brígida Baptista, and Anatole Danto. We are indebted to the fishing community of Angeiras, who welcomed our enquiries with unwavering patience and generosity. The fishing community of Angeiras is a case study that gives a sense of the complex relationship between marine ecosystems and coastal architecture. In functional terms, its characteristic stone houses, built near the beach, are used in conjunction with vessels operating small-scale fisheries that target a variety of species including pouting, sea bass, shrimp, lobster, and octopus (Octopus vulgaris). This workshop focused on octopus catches as a means to collect and represent a variety of scientific and architectural data. The work was divided into three areas: the sea, the shore, and the market. In the sea section, the natural environment of the species was addressed, with a focus on how octopus are trapped in fishing gear, and how the fisherfolk use their tackle. The shore section looked at the deployment of the boats, and how the equipment is disposed in relation to the buildings that support the operations. In the market section, attention was paid to the weight of the catches, their commercial value, and the relationship with other fisheries. In the three areas, octopus and fisherfolk move in unique choreographies that were scrutinized. The facts and figures were recorded in various ways at every stage of the fishing process, with drawings used to interlink the resulting narratives, producing a comprehensive description of the ongoing dynamics both on land and at the sea. Keywords: Octopus; Small-scale fisheries; Fishing community; Fishing architecture Octopus Choreographies Raquel Silva,a André Tavares,b Rafael Sousa Santos b a Comic drawings and storytelling; b Center for Studies in Architecture and Urbanism, Faculty of Architecture of the University of Porto, Porto, Portugal. corresponding author [email protected] Angeiras is a coastal community that evolved over the course of the twentieth century, with its small-scale fishing practices, using relatively small boats. There is an intimate connection between the houses, constructed to support fisheries, the boats, and the marine ecosystems that provide resources. This place demonstrates a close-knit relationship between the built environment and its neighbouring underwater landscapes. This is where Fishing Architecture begins! Angeiras is a coastal community that evolved over the course of the twentieth century, with its small-scale fishing practices, using relatively small boats. There is an intimate connection between the houses, constructed to support fisheries, the boats, and the marine ecosystems that provide resources. This place demonstrates a close-knit relationship between the built environment and its neighbouring underwater landscapes. This is where Fishing Architecture begins! 5 7 2 Just offshore, the seabed provides a unique context for a variety of species to thrive in. A strong upwelling and relatively shallow waters with a granite substrate create diverse habitats, including kelp forests, Sabellaria reefs, and sandy bottoms. This mix brings in waves of nutrients, enough to feed a wide variety of species that become interconnected. In the contact areas between these habitats, it is common to find many species with commercial value, which fisherfolk capture to earn their living and nurture a sense of community. In the kelp forests (1), one might find Laminaria hyperborea, Saccorhiza polyschides, Chondrus crispus, Codium tomentosum, and Palmaria palmata. Among the reefs and rocky crevices lurk the conger eel, Conger conger (2) and the clever octopus, Octopus vulgaris (3). The open waters bring in the swift seabass, Dicentrarchus labrax (4) and the striped pouting Trisopterus luscus (5). On the seabed, sea urchins Paracentrotus lividus (6) graze, while velvet crabs Necora puber (7) scurry through the detritus. 4 1 3 6 5 7 2 Just offshore, the seabed provides a unique context for a variety of species to thrive in. A strong upwelling and relatively shallow waters with a granite substrate create diverse habitats, including kelp forests, Sabellaria reefs, and sandy bottoms. This mix brings in waves of nutrients, enough to feed a wide variety of species that become interconnected. In the contact areas between these habitats, it is common to find many species with commercial value, which fisherfolk capture to earn their living and nurture a sense of community. In the kelp forests (1), one might find Laminaria hyperborea, Saccorhiza polyschides, Chondrus crispus, Codium tomentosum, and Palmaria palmata. Among the reefs and rocky crevices lurk the conger eel, Conger conger (2) and the clever octopus, Octopus vulgaris (3). The open waters bring in the swift seabass, Dicentrarchus labrax (4) and the striped pouting Trisopterus luscus (5). On the seabed, sea urchins Paracentrotus lividus (6) graze, while velvet crabs Necora puber (7) scurry through the detritus. 4 1 3 6 Departing from Angeiras before dawn, fishers can navigate out to the six-mile limit, where they launch their gear in carefully chosen spots. The places, which are negotiated across the community, often belong to specific vessels—unofficial, but respected! It’s a true form of sea territorialization. In fact, these territories correspond to the nature of seabed and underwater ecosystems, where the characteristics of different areas benefit different species. And when you spot tiny swirls in a vessel’s track? That’s the moment the engine was cut, and the boat was left to drift with the current while the gear was put to work. Here, we have two sets of trajectories—one mainly for seabass, the other for octopus. Both start from Angeiras (1), go nearby Leixões (2), and head toward familiar fishing spots: one typically used for catching seabass (3), the other known as a reliable octopus ground (4). 1 2 4 3 1. Octopuses thrive on the naturally rocky, sandy and in muddy seabed areas, where tasty crabs are easy to find. 2. Fishing boats, 8 to 10 metres in length, are equipped with engines, echo sounders, GPS, and other devices, ready to navigate offshore. 3. pots are set along a line, with an anchor on one end and a buoy on the other, each line carrying about a hundred pots, spaced 15 metres apart. 4. Octopuses love the pots because they provide shelter, especially away from the rocky seabed. Sometimes female octopus even use the traps as a place to lay eggs. Oops… these eggs won't make it. Departing from Angeiras before dawn, fishers can navigate out to the six-mile limit, where they launch their gear in carefully chosen spots. The places, which are negotiated across the community, often belong to specific vessels—unofficial, but respected! It’s a true form of sea territorialization. In fact, these territories correspond to the nature of seabed and underwater ecosystems, where the characteristics of different areas benefit different species. And when you spot tiny swirls in a vessel’s track? That’s the moment the engine was cut, and the boat was left to drift with the current while the gear was put to work. Here, we have two sets of trajectories—one mainly for seabass, the other for octopus. Both start from Angeiras (1), go nearby Leixões (2), and head toward familiar fishing spots: one typically used for catching seabass (3), the other known as a reliable octopus ground (4). 1 2 4 3 1. Octopuses thrive on the naturally rocky, sandy and in muddy seabed areas, where tasty crabs are easy to find. 2. Fishing boats, 8 to 10 metres in length, are equipped with engines, echo sounders, GPS, and other devices, ready to navigate offshore. 3. pots are set along a line, with an anchor on one end and a buoy on the other, each line carrying about a hundred pots, spaced 15 metres apart. 4. Octopuses love the pots because they provide shelter, especially away from the rocky seabed. Sometimes female octopus even use the traps as a place to lay eggs. Oops… these eggs won't make it. Fishing Architecture Centro de Estudos de Arquitectura e Urbanismo Faculdade de Arquitectura da Universidade do Porto Via Panorâmica Edgar Cardoso, n.º 215 4150-564 Porto [email protected] www.fishingarchitecture.com FISH-A Funded by ERC-CoG2022 101044244 — European Commission, Horizon Europe