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Unit 6
End of unit activities
I meet Mr. Agathe at Mourouk, a well-known coastal village in Rodrigues. He sits in the shade of
a lao tree making casiers*. He has done this for so many years that his ngers move quickly
and with precision. Later during the day, he will go out in his boat and place these casiers in the
lagoon. After three days, he will go to get them back. He hopes to catch many sh.
“It is more and more difcult to have a good catch these days,” he tells me sadly. “I have often
lifted my casiers out of the water only to nd that they are empty.”
I ask Mr. Agathe why he became a sherman. “This is the job I have always wanted to do,”
he replies. “I accompanied my grandfather on his shing trips as soon as I had completed
Standard 6. Since then, I have spent many hours at sea.”
Mr. Agathe remembers that, in those days, sh were in abundance. His grandfather and he
returned in a boat lled with capitaine and licorn, the best sh you can get. There was so much
sh that they had to travel round the coast to nd customers. Today, there are many buyers
but less sh.
Mr. Agathe points to some shing boats approaching the coast. Although they are at a distance,
he knows that Harel and Armand are in them. They left at 5 o’clock in the morning. A small
crowd of buyers is already on the beach waiting impatiently for the boat to come in. There are
different types of shermen in this region: those who sh in the lagoon, those who go to the
high sea, those who use casiers, those who catch octopus and those who sh at night using a
shing rod. Mr. Agathe knows them all. They have worked together for years.
Mr. Agathe does not think that the young people are interested in shing. Although some young
boys enjoy going out at sea with their parents during the weekend, he does not think that they
will make it their job. Very few women become sherwomen. People now want to work in
an ofce.
Mr. Agathe plans to sh for many more years. The sea and the waves are his companions and
he will enjoy them for as long as he can.
Ex. 1 Read the text below and answer the questions.
Glossary
• Casiers: cages made of bamboo to catch sh.
• Capitaine and licorn: types of sh.