What does a day in the life of an artisanal fisher look like? Percy Gianmarco Bayona Fiestas tells the story of a community of artisanal fishers in La Islilla, Peru. The place where he was born and raised. The community has practiced small-scale open-ocean fishing here for thousands of years. The fishers go out on the water each morning, fishing for over 8 hours a day to bring in enough catch. These fishers still use ancient tools and techniques, such as the balsilla, demonstrating their long and storied commitment to their craft, each other, and the ocean.
Still, the community here is met with hardships, including the everyday struggle to profit enough from the fish, squid, and eels they harvest from the ocean. To survive, the community must learn to balance tradition with innovation and have begun looking for new outlets and ways to catch and market their product. Percy hopes that, in telling this story, he can spread awareness of this artisanal community, helping it not only survive the challenges of today’s market economy but also sustainably thrive and reach resiliency.