Cormorant Fishing
Now that my Internet connection is finally recovering from last month’s earthquake, I hope to be uploading a boatload of photos in the next few days before I take off for five weeks on the road.
First up is a series of photos of cormorant fishing birds from Yangshuo. These birds are specially trained to dive under the water, catch fish in their mouth, then spit them onto a fisherman’s boat (slideshow, photo set).
It was fascinating to see the fisherman practice this fading art form … and the birds, as you can see, were absolutely beautiful!
January 23rd, 2007 at 4:14 pm EST
pretty birdie
January 23rd, 2007 at 10:39 pm EST
DO they spit, or are they being chocked?
January 23rd, 2007 at 11:54 pm EST
Good point, Paul … my words were misleading. When their neck is squeezed, they release the fish out of their throat into the fisherman’s basket:
What torture that must be … I wonder if this would be considered an avian eating disorder!
January 24th, 2007 at 12:27 am EST
Yeah, that’s the picture I saw and went — “hmm; I guess they don’t necessarily voluntarily give up that fish”, but you weren’t being misleading.
It also helps the fisherman that the birds are tied to the boat I suppose. Do they come back on their own (to the boat), or are they pulled back in? I don’t say this because I’m outraged or anything, just curious. I’m sure there are all sorts of things we do daily that seem barbaric.
January 24th, 2007 at 12:57 am EST
They weren’t tied to the boat … each fish just had a string tied around its neck with a loop at the end. Sometimes the birds would come near voluntarily but usually the fisherman used the end of his pole to snag the string’s loop and reel the bird in when he thought it was ready.
The fisherman actually seemed to have a sort of relationship with the birds (kinda like men and their hunting dogs, I’d guess) … if a bird got a particularly good “mouthful” (or a particularly big fish), he would reward it by giving it a few fish to swallow and letting it ride on the boat for a little while.
January 30th, 2007 at 4:34 am EST
Lance, How will we ever keep you down on the farm after you’ve seen China? The culture of these people is well documented in your pictures. Thanks for getting into the heart of the country with your striking photos! Way to go! They are awesome! LOVE, MOM