Home - Lagos - Other Places - Map The Glittering Harvest of the
Past. BY WENDY NAZAR Blue Tunny, or Tuna, have been caught off
the Algarve coast for over 6 centuries. A fully-grown Thunnus
thynnus can be up to 3m in length, and occasionally a specimen
of up to 5m has been caught. These fish travel in schools in
open surface waters, and are seldom found at a depth greater
than 100m. The Tuna head in from the open Atlantic to spawn in
the Mediterranean during May and June. In July and August, they
make the reverse journey. As they travel the same routes in and
out at the same time every year, just off the southern shores of
Europe, their capture became a special feature. As early as the
end of the 13th century Tuna fishing was declared a crown
monopoly, and by the end of the 15th century was overtaking that
of Whaling as the chief income of the fishermen of the Algarve.
In 1485, the great quantity of Tuna caught caused many towns,
such as Lagos, to arrange the salting of the profusion, so that
the surplus could