Cormorant fishing

Peter:

In Yangshuo we got the opportunity to see the old practice of cormorant fishing. There are a number of photos showing the fisherman and his birds. Cormorants are large birds with long necks about the size of a small goose. The fisherman had about 6 trained birds that he fitted with a collar of string. After dark, he went out into the shallows of the river on his bamboo raft (only 5 bamboo sticks across) with a lantern and a basket. The light attracted the fish and he let the birds go into the water. The birds stayed close to the raft because of the light/fish. The birds would dive and are incredible swimmers. As they caught fish the collar on their necks prevented them from swallowing the fish. The fisherman would use his punting pole to reach out to the birds. The birds would hop aboard the pole and he would bring them back to the raft. The fisherman then tipped the bird up over the basket and the fish fell out. The size of the fish was limited, but the biggest we saw was about 5 inches long and quite thick like a perch, maybe 3 inches from top to bottom. After the fishing the fisherman cut the collars off and fed his birds.
You can see how well-trained the birds are by looking at the picture of me in my pirate pose with the cormorant on my arm.