"Chinchorro"

• This is a type of sweep net that is cast from the shore. It is paid out in an fairly large arc of a circle and then hauled in from the shore. Until not so long ago, the entire operation of hauling in the nets was performed using human traction; the fisherman would spread out in two lines and would put a heavy rope ("la boza") across their shoulders to haul in each side of the net. They spent long hours under the sun performing this exhausting physical task. Today, the chinchorros are hauled in by two motorboats until the net is near the beach.
• If the net gets stranded and empties out onto the beach, the death toll of small fish could be high, but if the cod end is left in the water and the fish are taken out when the buyers turn up, only the fish that are large enough to market are chosen and the rest are set free. This style of fishing is never as harmful as fishing with industrial sweep nets.
• When the "chinchorro" is small it is called a "mandinga". If it is made to capture a specific species, it is given the name of that species, for example, the "picúero" is used to fish for "picúas" or great barracudas. The cod piece on this type of "chinchorro" has to be stronger.

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