Despite the large size of the Setúbal fish-salting complex, this Roman fish hook is a rare find which reminds us that fishing was one of the most economically important occupations in the Setúbal area both before the Roman arrival, and after the end of the Empire and the Roman salt-fishing industry.

The end of Roman political unity in the western Mediterranean especially after 476 AD meant that commercial links and consumer markets declined, so that the large-scale production of fish condiments was no longer an economically viable proposition. The factories were abandoned and the industrial complex of the Sado estuary was forgotten about.

© 1998 Oxfordshire Museum Service, Setúbal Museums and the Benaki Museum