Passive fish traps are among some of the oldest documented relics from indigenous cultures all over the globe. Stone weirs built many hundred years ago in rivers and low tide areas still exist today.
Funneling fish for easier capture was a strategy used to put food on the table in almost every primitive culture. While different trap designs exist, there is one design that seems to be universal - the woven funnel trap.
Whether made from bamboo in the wetlands of Asia and South America, reeds on the coast of New Zealand or grapevine in the forests North America the funnel basket trap varied only slightly in design across multiple continents and cultures.
There are essentially two parts to the funnel basket trap: the body and the inverted cone cap. Lured by the scent of bait, the fish enter the main trap body through the inverted cone shaped cap. Once inside they aren’t smart enough to figure out how to get back out.
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The trap depicted on the video, called "covo de pesca" in the southeast of Brazil, is no longer used nowadays by seu Miguel Buta. He said he learned the craft from his father when he was a child and stopped using it recently because, after him, the bait of bread or sardines is very expensive.
Seu Miguel Buta lives on the banks of the Paraíba do Sul river since his birth. His abode, as well as part of his family's abodes is in the outskirts of the very industrialized town of São José dos Campos, in the southwest of Brazil. Some of his sons still fish, bat not to make money, just for leisure. Instead, Seu Miguel still delivers his production in the local market every saturday.