Italian to English Social Sciences Fisheries Tuna fishing in Sicily

Here is the word in context:

"E tra le parti più pregiate del tonno ci sono state sempre le uova, manipolate 'dalli bottari e marinari'."

The article is about tuna fishing in Sicily: how it used to be done, how it is done now, how long it has been going on etc, though it is not a long article, so there is not a great deal of detail.

The word in question is, I believe, a Sicilian word, or at the very least an old Italian word. I have found "buttaru", which is quite similar (especially as the Sicilian interchange their 'o's and 'u's, depending on how strict the dialect is) and means "bottaio" in Italian, but that is obviously not relevant here.

I strongly suspect it has a lot to do with the term "bottarga" which are tuna fish eggs, and I can certainly make a guess as to what "bottari" means, and come up with an equivalent term, but I would like to find the exact translation if possible. SO any help would be very gratefully received!

It is for a cultural magazine about Sicily.