Fishermen, women and young people from the island of Kerkennah have received training on how to make the nets used in Charfia fishing, a traditional fishing technique that was inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2020. These training sessions, organised by Sfax Outdoor Sports (SOS), a non-profit association dedicated to the promotion of outdoor sports, are part of the promotion of intangible heritage and the implementation of the "Charfia Road" project in Kerkennah, the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) in Tunisia announced on Monday. The training also focused on the history of Charfia and its relationship with the island of Kerkennah, and helped raise awareness among local residents of good practices in the manufacture of creels, an activity handed down from generation to generation and used for local fishing. Charfia Road" aims to highlight and promote the intangible element of Tunisia's UNESCO World Heritage "Charfia Fishing". The project is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Route, supported by the Sustainable Tourism Promotion Project, co-funded by the European Union (EU) and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), and implemented by the Tunisian Ministry of Tourism and Handicrafts with the support of GIZ Tunisia. Charfias are fixed traps made of hedges of palm leaves that are driven into the sediments of the sea in a vertical, upward direction, so that they rise above the surface and are never covered by the water of the highest tides. Traditionnally, the Charfia is set up and used between the autumn equinox and June to allow the marine fauna to regenerate. Each year, the rebuilding of this device is linked to social practices such as sharing a meal or praying. According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), Charfia fishing in the Kerkennah Islands is a traditional, passive fishing technique that capitalises on the hydrographic conditions, seabed contours and natural resources both at sea and on land.
Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse