Fishermen's Wives

Along the belgian coast fishing has been an important activity for centuries, even long before the existance of Belgium. Since a few decades this once flourishing industry has declined to an activity with merely any significance, mostly because of the increasing regulations. On the other hand technological innovations changed the way of fishing, safety and life on board and increased the earnings per ship. Nowadays fishing is still practiced along the belgian coast, but on a very small scale. The fishing fleet today can't be compared to the belgian fishing fleet in the 50s and 60s.

A lot of the fishermen who knew the haydays of fishing are now retired. Their stories are known and documented. A less known subject is the life of the fishermen's wife. These women were de facto head of the household. To capture theit stories the province of West-Flanders started an oral history project in cooperation with 5 coastal communities.

Horse fishing

In Oostduinkerke, a small town along the belgian coast, there is still a tradition of horse fishing. Fishermen use horses to fish for shrimps and other small marine life in the surf. Oostduinkerke is the only place worldwide where this century-old tradition still exists.