Galicia: The community where women have dominated the fishing industry for thousands of years

If you think of people who fish, most of us will probably imagine fishermen. But in Galicia in north-western Spain, it's the women who dominate a particular trade.

They're Mariscadoras, or Shell-fisherwomen. For a thousand years, these women have passed down traditional skills from generation to generation.

Grandmothers, mothers and daughters have all grown up with this trade touching every aspect of their lives.

I travelled to Cambados, a town on the Atlantic coast, to meet some of the women and hear about their pride in this work which they fiercely protect for the next generation.

Many of their methods are unchanged in hundreds of years, but what is changing is the climate around them.

Shell fish stocks have been hit hard by extreme weather events including heatwaves and heavy rainfall.

Data from the Galician government shows numbers at the end of 2023 were just 15 percent of what they were the year before, with all four of the main species of shell fish harvested in the area now struggling to recover.

María José Cacabelos who is the president of Guimatur, the Association of Sea Women of Cambados, told me that last winter was very hard, due to heavy rainfall.

"Salinity dropped and a lot of shellfish died," she said, but added that jobs in contact with nature are vulnerable to the weather.

"It happens to farmers, sailors and shell fish harvesters. It depends a lot on the climate."

The mariscadoras have a bond that runs through their veins, with friendships built on the muddy sand at low tide where they gather shellfish.

The skill and value of the work mustn't be underestimated.

Traditionally, their income supported that of the men in the family, paying for the day to day costs of running a household, while the wages from the fishermen covered bigger expenses.

Sometimes though, the shell-fisherwomen provide what is the only income for families, when the weather is too bad to go out to sea.

The job continues to appeal to younger women who are juggling modern life. Working around the tides and regulations to protect fish stocks, means each "shift" is usually around four hours long, which, in turn, allows time to manage other responsibilities at home.

Melissa, who was taught by her mother Victoria, tells me how, as a teenager, collecting shellfish would help pay for a night out.

Now she fits the job around looking after her son, and helping her husband run a bar.

Victoria though worries for the future, having witnessed over decades the changes in the climate and also the environmental threat from other industries to their profession.

Recently some of the women have been involved in demonstrations against a pulp company, who plan to build a new factory in Galicia.

Victoria swears she will fight until it's "kicked out" and she will "fight like a champion."

On meeting these women, I had the strong impression that this way of life won't be stamped out easily.

It was clear to me that their grit, determination and passion could very well save and protect it, as losing it would mean more than just a loss of income, it would be the loss of their sense of identity.

You can watch On Assignment at 11.30pm July 30 or catch up later on ITVX.

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