What are the “paardenvissers van Oostduinkerke”?
Paardenvissen in België met Mauro
A2 Dutch listening practice · Dutch · Curated for beginners
The paardenvissers van Oostduinkerke practice one of the world’s last surviving instances of horseback shrimp fishing, in Oostduinkerke on the Belgian North Sea coast. Riders on heavy Brabantse trekpaarden (Brabant draft horses) wade chest-deep into the surf at low tide, dragging weighted nets along the seabed to catch grijze garnalen (grey shrimp). UNESCO inscribed the practice on its Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2013. Fewer than twenty active paardenvissers remain, mostly working part-time and demonstrating the craft to summer tourists. The catch is sold fresh on the beach and at nearby restaurants.
In this clip, NOS Jeugdjournaal joins eleven-year-old Mauro: “Mauro van 11 vist garnalen op een paard. Met een net dat aan het paard vastzit worden de garnalen gevangen.”
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General Dutch frequency
Spoken Dutch frequency
Words above this video’s level
Quick glosses for vocabulary that goes beyond this video’s A2 level.
Source: wordfreq 3.1.1 (general) · SUBTLEX-NL 2014 (spoken). Buckets approximate; exact ranks not stored.
- ▸In Flemish coastal-tourism and West-Flanders content (Toerisme Vlaanderen, Visit Koksijde, Het Laatste Nieuws)
- ▸In UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage writing (UNESCO, De Standaard, De Morgen)
- ▸In Belgian fishing-heritage journalism (VRT NWS, Knack, Het Nieuwsblad)
- ▸In Dutch and Belgian seafood and culinary writing (Allerhande, Libelle Lekker, NRC)