Send message to Authors

Paper short abstract:

This presentation addresses the importance of the long-term capture and extraction of fur seals and sea lions in Southern Africa, grounded on an extensive literature review on the local pinnipeds.

Paper long abstract:

This paper aims to call attention on the long-term extraction of pinnipeds in Southern Africa. To this purpose a literature review has been conducted looking for studies with quantitative information about captures and extractions of animals from this taxonomic group, in pre-industrial times, aiming at a global view of the state-of-the-art on the topic. The review considered scientific articles and reports published in Portuguese, Spanish, English and French and it was focused in 4 countries - Angola, Namibia, South Africa, Mozambique - between the FAOS 47-51 and LME’s 29-30, and 4 species - earless and ‘true’ seals, fur seals and sea lions - for the period between late 1st millennia BCE and 1860. The data seems to attest that the extraction of these species occurred when European colonial powers settled and developed in the region. However, as archaeological, anthropological and ethnographical studies are being processed at this stage, it is acceptable that the literature review encompassing these disciplinary areas will give extra information on the use and consumption by local and indigenous populations since the early Holocene. Therefore, this presentation, underlines the relevance of pursuing such a review as well as the importance of a multidisciplinary approach to this topic for a better comprehension of the global long-term impact of these captures and extractions in Southern Africa.