Agriculture and Fishing: Essential Practices and Terms
Mediterranean Agriculture
Mediterranean Trilogy: These are the classic and typical yields of rainfed agriculture in Mediterranean climates: cereal, olives, and vines. Traditionally, the cereal was wheat, but today the barley acreage greatly exceeds that of wheat.
Dehesa: Land used for pasture, bounded and composed of herbaceous vegetation and scattered trees, usually oak or cork, of which acorn is usually obtained for cattle. The pasture is a consequence of human activity committed to wresting land from the Mediterranean forests so they can be allocated to pasture to feed livestock.
Huerta: Irrigated lowlands, near the rivers and the coast. Lands are irrigated by a dense network of ditches. The mild temperatures and high humidity for several months allow multiple harvests per year in the vegetable gardens and orchards.
Terracing: A method of transforming mountain slopes into flat surfaces and staggered terraces through the use of retaining walls of stone. An example of this is the Bancales Simat of Valldigna.
Greenhouse Crops: Crops are obtained by methods based on the effect of the microclimate that produces a plastic cover, with a significant increase in humidity and temperature compared to natural conditions of the environment. Faced with crops under plastic, which merely take advantage of environmental conditions, greenhouse crops incorporate artificial heating. Both are geared toward winter vegetable production, obtaining early harvests, which is when these products reach a higher price in the market. They are also used for the production of cut flowers and indoor ornamental plants.
Sanded Crops: Crops are produced through a technique of superimposing a layer of sand over another of fertile soil to prevent water evaporation.
Energy Crops: Energy crops are fast-growing plants intended solely for the production of energy or as raw material for obtaining other combustible substances. An example is Soya.
Fishing Techniques and Maritime Terms
Length: Length of a ship from bow to stern on the inside cover.
Trawling: Fishing carried out through a mesh bag of variable height, which by various means remains open and crawls along the seafloor.
Longline Fisheries: Fishing using a device consisting of a long, thick rope hanging from a branch here and there with hooks at their ends.
Tonnage: Total capacity of a ship expressed in units of volume. The internationally accepted unit is the registered ton, which is equivalent to 2.83 cubic meters.
Location: Abundant fishing sea area. The Spanish did not offer abundant fisheries resources, and fishing has led to depletion.
Territorial or Jurisdictional Waters: Extension of the sea that belongs to a country. This is an exclusive economic zone in which the Spanish State has sovereign rights for the purpose of exploration and exploitation of resources.
Inshore or Coastal Fishing: Fishing close to the coast and within the territorial waters of each country. It is performed mainly by artisanal, small-tonnage, and sparsely modernized vessels, which prevents them from straying too far from the coast.
Deep-Sea Fishing: Takes place far from the coast and within international waters, usually with 100-500 ton ships, allowing them to stay at sea for days or weeks.
Deep-Sea Fishing: It is practiced by large factory ships, allowing you to remain at sea for months until they have filled their warehouses and return to port. Our fleet freezer.
Aquaculture: Cultivation in seawater, rivers, or dams of animals and aquatic plants. In the former, it is called a farm.
Fishing Gear: Fishing techniques that can be based on the cane or the net, the fence or drag, and can even combine more than one mode.
Estero: It is used in several ecological and geographical contexts to designate wetland conditions, generally flat areas of imperfect drainage.
Batea: It consists of a wooden rectangular lattice of 100 to 500 square meters supported by coated steel floats with fiberglass, polyester, or polyester filled with foam, which is used as mussel farms.