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Phalacrocorax carbo
Cormorant fishing is a traditional fishing method in which fishermen use trained cormorants to fish in rivers. Historically, cormorant fishing has taken place in Japan and China from around 960 AD. To control the birds, the fishermen tie a snare near the base of the bird's throat. This prevents the birds from swallowing larger fish, which are held in their throat, but the birds can swallow smaller fish. When a cormorant has caught a fish in its throat, the fisherman brings the bird back to the boat and has the bird spit the fish up. Though cormorant fishing once was a successful industry, its primary use today is to serve the tourism industry.
Lijiang River Guilin, China.
Seriously old 35mm prints from a trip to China in 1991 that I have scanned so please forgive the poor quality! I have to admit that I did feel rather sorry for the poor cormorants though we were told they are well treated by the fishermen because trained birds are so valuable.
Spotted on Jun 12, 1991
Submitted on Nov 27, 2011
2 Comments
I agree moralcoral, though at the time I visited China 20 years ago, there was very little tourism (it was just 2 years after the Tiananmen Square protests) & this was genuinely one of the main local industries.
Looks quite sad, especially as primarilly now for tourists! reminds me of people who tie elastic bands to dogs tails to make them fall off =(