3183, 3186 SLOVENIA (Slovene Littoral) - The fishermen in Piran

3183 Piran - Fisherman square, next to the town's inner port (mandracchio)

Worldwide, for populations that inhabit the coasts of the seas and oceans, fishing is one of the main occupations of ancient times. In Slovenian Istria, however, historical and political developments have radically and definitively changed the situation. For many hundreds of years, the population of Piran was predominantly Italian, but in 1954 the town was transffered to Yugoslavia, the result being a massive exodus of Italian-speaking inhabitants. The new Comunist government of Yugoslavia sought to replace the old population with immigrants, so several traditional economic trades, among which are fishing, started to dissapear.

3186 Piran - Fisherman repairing a fishing net

In the 1980's,  the number of fishermen increased, and the statistics for 1996 demonstrate that there were 40 fishermen in Piran, whose only sourse of income was fishing, and 39 persons who engaged in fishing as their secondary activity. Following the breakup of Yugoslavia in 1991, and the establishment of the new state border between Slovenia and Croatia, new problems arose for the fishermen from Slovenia, who lost some resourses in the now croatian waters, where they used to fish, and had to adapt their strategies in various ways. One of these is the strategy of connecting fishing with tourism.

About the stamps
On the postcard 3183
The stamp is part of the series Marine Life, designed by Matjaž Učakar, and issued on September 27, 2013.
• Damselfish / Chromis chromis (0.60 EUR)
• Common cuttlefish / Sepia officinalis (0.64 EUR) - It's on the postcard 3183
• Loggerhead sea turtle / Caretta caretta (0.92 EUR)

On the postcard 3186

 
The stamp is the participation of Slovenia to the 2016's issue of the EuroMed Postal Joint stamp project, Fish in the Mediterranean, designed by Matjaž Učakar and issued on July 9, 2016. Established in March 2011 with its headquarters in Malta, the Postal Union for the Mediterranean (PUMed) forms part of the Universal Postal Union, and marks the Mediterranean region as a political, economic and social area. The EuroMed Postal Joint stamp project is a commitment which is intended to be held annually. The intention behind this idea was to keep on a similar project of the Europa Stamp, wherein a theme will be chosen and all member countries will submit their design. Each member will then be free to issue the design prepared by it.  This for the exception of the first stamp issued in 2014, where all members were obliged to have the same design.    

Sender 3183, 3186: Slavica Radej (direct swap)
Sent from Brestanica (Styria / Slovenia), on 29.08.2017
Photo: Ubald Trnkoczy