Cormorant Fishing

This past week I went with a group of students to a village in southern China named Yangshuo. This village is in a part of China that is littered with karst rock formations. It is known as one of the most beautiful areas in China - and consequently is one of the most heavily touristed. In this small town, which lies on a river, the local fishermen employ a method of fishing that harkens back to an age ago, and has mostly been supplanted by more efficient fishing methods in the rest of China. The fishermen spend two years training a seabird, called a cormorant, to catch fish for them. The birds have a small ring tied around their neck. This allows the bird to swallow small fish, but the ring prevents the cormorant from swallowing larger fish. The larger fish end up on the fisherman's boat, as he will pull the bird up and the bird will spit the fish out. This fishing is almost always done at night, as the use of a large light draws the fish towards the surface which makes it easier for the cormorant to catch them.