Paper short abstract:

Through the ethnographic research of the mud sledge, specifically in tidal southeast China, in this paper I aim to reflect on and navigate the embodied temporality of the fishing gear and the entanglements between the ocean gear and their users through the paradigm of materials, sensory and skill.

Paper long abstract:

Based on the ethnographic research of the mud sledge in the coastal area (especially intertidal zones) of northeastern Fujian, southeast China, in this paper, I aim to reflect on and navigate the embodied temporality of the fishing gear and the entanglements between the ocean gear and their users. As the traditional device used by the coastal fishermen when they collect from nets, pots and traps which they set out in tidal waters, with a flat wooden base and propelled by scooting with one or two legs, the mud sledge (locally called ‘nima’) is an essential agent on the mudflat which links the fishermen, the oceanic creatures (e.g. oysters and clams), the surrounding water areas and their site-specific spatial-temporalities. It is moving, active and dynamic. In this paper I aim to trace the spatio-temporal movement of the mud sledge (daily and seasonally) in relation to specific creatures, regarding it as an additional vehicle for navigating and timing, and unfold the materiality and the embodied sensoriness of the fishing gear in detail. It affords the enskilment (‘gaining the sea leg’), material and sensory perceptions, and the relational temporalities and attachment of the fishermen dwelling in the intertidal zones. Rooted in the dynamic context of moving ashore and the changing livelihood, this paper also indicates what such ocean gear is ‘disabled’, but also remains and maintains.