HISTORY:
- The fisher family Etxegoien from Getaria built its fishing ship MATER in 1990 at the shipyard of La Parrilla in Asturias.
- The traditional tuna fishing ship worked for 13 years and it fished anchovies, mackerel, sardines and albacore, using environmentally friendly fishing methods .
- In 2003, like the rest of the fleet, did a great job extracting the oil slicks from the Prestige catastrophe.
- Then the destiny of the MATER changed, because the family needed a bigger ship to work. So they got the grant and the “Mater Bi” (Second Mater) replaced the it, getting its fishing license. So thanks to the grant, they could build the new ship “Mater Bi”. But it was impossible for them to maintain the MATER, so it was going to be scrapped because the fishing license must go for the new ship.
- It was then, when the association ITSAS GELA recovered the MATER to give to it a second life: a ship museum for the spreading of the Basque maritime heritage.
- The transformation process lasted about 2 years and the biggest difficulty was to obtain the permission for seaworthiness.
- Finally, in 2005, the MATER opened its doors to the public becoming witness of the Basque culture and maritime heritage.
FEATURES:
- Built in 1990 with Tali wood.
- 33 meters long and 7.40 meters of beam.
- Its original features and the adaptation of its holds allow receiving visits of people interested on the fishermen life.
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