Fishing is blended with the name of Bandar Anzali. All the cities that are situated on the shores of seas have this characteristic. But in Bandar Anzali, in order to speed up their fishing work, the people use nets that they themselves weave and call this art “mashakbafi”; a craft that should be given a fresh look in order to restore its previous flourishment and help the economy of Bandar Anzali.
Mashak are woven nets with heavy pieces of lead placed at the end so that when the net is thrown into the sea, it becomes heavy and sinks deep into the water. In this way, the fish and aquatic animals are placed inside the net, and by pulling the seven-meter-long rope connected to the net, they catch the desired catch. The people of Bandar Anzali call weaving a net and putting the lead at the end of it “vavchav,” a handicraft that women mostly do. However, men weavers sometimes also do this work.
Mashakbafi has been handed down from generation to generation, up to this day, more or less. Since fishing is impossible without nets and mashak, this handmade art has been uninterrupted. But now that nets are being imported and people are buying them Mashakbafi (the art weaving mashak) may be pushed to the sidelines.
Mashak has a height of four meters. When it is spread in the water, it forms a large circle, and turns into a wide net to catch aquatic creatures. All the fish in the Anzali lagoon are prey to this mashak; like siahkuli, shah kuli, carp, duck fish, white fish and other sea creatures. A point worth noting is that these nets are made somewhat wide so that small fish don’t fall inside them. This is necessary for continuation of aquatic life of the lagoon. Let us add here that sometimes the mashak weaving women get fancy and weave colored mashak to give a more attractive effect to their craft. In the past, they would spin cotton into thread with a spindle, and with that thread they wove their mashak.
In not so far past, quite a few women were engaged in mashakbafi. There was a demand for these fishing nets, and fishermen, fishmongers, and shopkeepers were among the buyers of nets. But now, nets machine-woven in factories or imported from countries such as China have made mesh weaving less in demand. This trend has reached a point where the net-weaving women of Bandar Anzali complain that “The labor market for this work has slowed down and many people, despite knowing net weaving, are no longer willing to weave nets” (Report of “Anzali Farda” website, 20 Azar 1399). In another report, we read, “From the 10 weavers, who used to weave mashak in Samakan market, now there is only one person left.” (Qods newspaper). This is in face of the fact that the revival of mashak weaving can great job opportunities and help the family economy.
Last point: This craft of Bandar Anzali we call mashakbafi in west of Gilan and Saliland in the East of Gilan.
