Cormorant fishing

Cormorant fishing is exactly what it sounds like - fishermen use trained birds to catch fish.

Here's how it works: A ring is placed around the bird's throat, loose enough to let small fish through but tight enough to prevent large fish from being swallowed. The cormorant dives underwater, catches fish in its beak, and returns to the fisherman who removes the catch from the bird's throat pouch.

This 1,300-year-old technique was once a legitimate livelihood across China and Japan. Fishermen would raise cormorants from chicks, training them to dive on command and return with their catch. The birds lived their entire lives working alongside the same fisherman.

But it's dying out for practical reasons: Modern fishing methods are faster, more efficient, and don't require years of training birds. Commercial nets can catch more fish in minutes than a cormorant fisherman can catch in hours.

At 86, Lao Huang is among the dwindling number of people who still possess this specialized knowledge. The technique requires understanding cormorant behavior, knowing how to train the birds, and mastering the specific equipment and methods developed over centuries.

When the last practitioners retire or die, this specific knowledge disappears. The training techniques, the understanding of cormorant behavior, the specialized equipment - none of it gets passed down because there's no economic reason for younger generations to learn it.

Follow Project Nightfall for more stories.

#CormorantFishing #TraditionalFishing #Culture #China

All reactions:

470470