EPIC FISHING CAMPAIGN OF PORTUGAL.

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Epic Fishing Campaigns.
The stamps and MS shows us also fishing vessel used in this trade.

0.57Euro, shows us the tuna fishing on the Algarve Coast. See not any fishing vessel.
0.59 Euro, the cod fishing off New Foundland with a dory, and motherships in the left of the stamp.
Dory: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=7117

1.05 Euro, whaling off the Azores. The watercraft on the stamp is called “canoa do baleeiro” of which Aak to Zumbra a dictionary of the World’s Watercraft gives:

Slender open whaleboat used in the Azores and northern Atlantic. She was imported in the Azores from the United States until 1894; thereafter built locally. Launched from the beaches. Double-ended with sharp entrance and run; carvel built, sheer strake may be lapped; frames of 1 piece, rounded bottom; slack bilges; flared sides; whalebone rubbing strakes. When whale strikes, tiller unshipped and rudder swung clear of the water by means of a lanyard that pulls the pintles free of the gudgeon pins. Then a steering oar (ca. 7m long)employed supported by an iron brace on the port side; wooden peg on oar loom provides a better grip. Chock forward of harpooner’s platform; 6 thwarts. Hull white, sheer strake a bright color, designated island of origin. 19th-century boats set a boomless gunter lugsail with sprit; subsequently used a high-peaked boomed gaff sail and jib, some clubfooted. Heavily canvassed. Mast lowers by a hinge. Relied solely on sail and oar (using oars of 6 different lengths, single banked) until 1909, when motor launches began towing boats to the whaling grounds. Paddles used in addition to sail when in close range of the whale.
Crew of 7. Reported lengths 9 – 12m; e.g. length 11.6m, beam 2m, depth ca. 0.76m, draught 0.76m.

Portugal’s tight relationship with the sea entails a res- possibility to carry out cultural work that can build a new ethnography of a maritime way of life. At a time when the new economy of the sea appears to dismiss the human dimension to maritime life that has marked the coastal landscape, this special stamp issue evokes three major fishing campaigns historically undertaken by the Portuguese: cod fishing off Newfoundland and Greenland, whaling in the Azores, and tuna fishing along the Algarve coast.
Fishing is an element of maritime culture, as well as an economic activity associated with exploiting the fragile living resources of the sea. For that very reason, or perhaps due to a lack of knowledge, fisheries and work at sea, in general, are the focus of persistent myths.
The imagery associated with certain fishing campaigns has taken on an epic dimension, replete with extreme images that evince a cruel beauty. This is true of the large transatlantic fisheries and other jobs that involved drawn-out exploits of navigation and real communities living in precarious conditions. It would be true to say that all work at sea has a heroic dimension to it and naturally lends itself to epic narratives. However, it must also be acknowledged that cod fishing, Azorean whaling, and tuna fishing in the Algarve were extreme activities of this kind. These odyssey-like adventures gave rise to legend and sparked immense curiosity from abroad, which only grew as these activities started to wither away, eventually disappearing altogether. Cod fishing by the legendary White Fleet, which left its mark on generations of maritime communities along the entire Portuguese coast, whaling off the islands of the Azores, and tuna fishing with traditional traps along the Algarve coast are all superb examples of this rich cultural legacy.
Fishing was invariably marked by immense human ingenuity, discipline and fearlessness. Tragedy, too. It is no mere coincidence that all these activities came to an end in the 1970s, in the wake of the major changes wrought by the Law of the Sea and new scientific views on the use of marine resources. It also coincided with the collapse of the dictatorship of Salazar and Caetano. These feats loom large in Portugal’s lingering collective memory of its relationship with the sea, but they are crying out for their significance to be examined afresh, with a view to education and cultural tourism that can look beyond mere myths.
Within the public arena, cultural initiatives that bring the country’s cherished heritage together with scientific literacy must pay tribute to the human work involved in major feats at sea and explore how it connects with the Azores (fishing/whaling), the ports on Portugal’s west coast (cod fishing) and the beaches of the eastern Algarve (tuna). Delving into the details of these exploits is absolutely fascinating: their historical origins, economic and social structure, working relationships, cultural imagery and symbolism. This is a story of huge interest to the Portuguese public in general and maritime communities in particular.

Álvaro Garrido
Historian, University of Coimbra
https://www.wopa-plus.com/en/stamps/product/&pgid=75658
Portugaj 2022 0.57/1.05 Euro and MS 3.00 Euro, sg +, Scott?