It cannot be determined with certainty when the first „tunere” (observation posts about 16 meters high) date, but it is assumed that their existence dates back to the time before the counts of Zrinski and Frankopan, who ruled the area from 1224. until 1692.. On these posts fishermen waited for tuna to enter the Bay of Bakar and signaled with a shout to those on the shore that it was time to start fishing. At first, the aristocracy fished for tuna themselves and not until 1599, after several consecutive bad fishing years, did they give the right to fish to the fishermen with the payment of a lease. Although the authority changed over the centuries, the fishermen remained burdened by high levies. In 1918, the Fishermen's Cooperative was founded in Bakarac, one of the first of its kind in the Adriatic, and the first years of the Cooperative's existence represent the golden age of Bakarac in all fields of life. Over the years, there was turmoil and schism in the Cooperative, and it finally collapsed at the turn of 1940-1941. Disruptions caused by the events of the war were also reflected in fishing, which was already affected by the Great Depression of the 1930s. Although tuna fishing boats started to operate in the 1930s, that way of fishing never took place in Bay of Bakar.
The importance of tuna observation posts in Bakarac is also shown by the fact that throughout the centuries, “tunere” were an important factor in solving the problem of local employment, which was especially evident in difficult times of social and economic crises. From the earliest childhood, every Bakarac resident gained experience in fishing and was trained to be a fisherman, climbing up the observation posts and helping in the tuna fishing, regardless of what job he would do later in life. Therefore, if there was no possibility of other employment, they went to tuna fishing.
People with significant physical disabilities, elderly people and women were also accepted. Perhaps the best indicator of the importance of tuna in Bakarac is the tradition that the word tuna was rarely heard among fishermen, it was referred to as the fish, and all other fish were called by their names. Over time, a special way of speaking was created where certain words were used only for tuna. So, in addition to the term fish for tuna, the number of tuna is indicated by the term head (stotinu glav rib - a hundred head of fish meant that a hundred tunas were caught). In addition to special expressions for tuna of different weights, there were expressions for the weight and quantity of tuna: miljar kil (1000 kg) and miljar glav (1000 pieces). The fisherman's fee was called miljarina, and it was distributed at the end of the season, on the last day of October, along with a traditional celebration, which was all the bigger the better the season was. The term miljarina referred exclusively to tuna, which also indicates the status of that fish in Bakarac. The exclamation tira! to indicate that the fish came was used only for tuna, while the term potež was used for all other types of fish; along with many other local terms used only for tuna. The fishermen got only 35% profit of the tuna caught, and 50% of all other fish.
When tunas entered Bay of Bakar, a kind of trap from which they had difficulty finding an exit, sooner or later they would end up in one of the fishing nets. The work of stretching the nets was extremely physically demanding and required more time, the soaked nets weighed over a thousand kilograms. This was significantly simplified by the introduction of a special kind of second, smaller net called vela migavica, a net used to encircle the tuna after closing the bigger net. This made the job much easier, and the fishing time was almost cut in half. The primary bigger net thus became sort of a fence of the fishing area. When the tuna was out on the shore it was hung at tabarina, a place where final part of the job, cleaning the tuna, was being done. Smaller specimens of tuna were carried by children which gave them great joy and pride.
Tuna caught in Bakarac weighed between 3 and 300 kilograms but 70% of the seasonal catch was 7 – 10 kg. Such tunas were especially caught in the second part of the season, i.e. in the main season in August and September. Larger than average tuna were caught more often in the spring part of the season. The year 1928 is remembered for its abundant catch. 90% of the tuna weighed 4-5 kg. That year, the first tuna of the main season were caught on September 1 at Kavranić, when 1070 small specimens were caught. Since then, an order has been given that the tuners are no longer closed for less than 50 heads of tuna that season. In the same year, the largest known tuna was caught in Bakarac. In extremely beautiful and warm October weather, nine tuna fish with a total weight of 2769 kilograms were caught on Sridnja, and the largest tuna weighed 306 kg.
The particularity of the relationship between Bakar and tunere observation posts is evident throughout the many centuries of their existence. Tunere were present in the homes of Bakarac during the summer days of intensive fishing as well as in the winter while waiting for the start of the new season. Every striking fishing maneuver on the tunere drew the locals out to the shore and every significant catch meant a celebration for the whole place. Tuna fishing was the lifeblood of the whole town.
