June 18, 2007: Ukai, traditional Japanese comorant fishing

Undertoad · 06-18-2007, 02:35 PM

Welcome, it's Neatorama Collaboration Monday!

The Sydney Morning Herald had this one featuring Ukai, a traditional fishing method that has been used in Japan for 1300 years, or so they say. In Ukai, you use a sea bird, a comorant, on a leash to fish for you.

It's pretty disgusting and so the practice is pretty much limited to a small group of traditional fishermen. Why?

This page has more detail, including the note that they have to prevent the bird from eating the fish somehow. So they put a small ring around its neck, and once the bird catches something...

..you make it cough up the goods.

According to Neatorama's Alex, the practice was originally founded in China.

Be sure to visit Neatorama for more neato items all the time!

xoxoxoBruce · 06-18-2007, 02:52 PM

Birds always swallow fish head first to avoid being impaled on the fish's spines. I wonder how they disgorge the fish without getting injured?

monster · 06-18-2007, 06:02 PM

This fishing practice features in one of the Bond books.

Cloud · 06-18-2007, 06:12 PM

I remember cormorant fishing from the book Island of the Blue Dolphins.

wolf · 06-18-2007, 06:24 PM

I remember cormorant killing from that book, but not fishing. There was some other kid's book that had fishing thing in it, wasn't there?

The girl had a cape or skirt of cormorant skins, IIRC. (Funny, I know the dog's name was Rontu (and his son Rontu-Aru) but I can't remember hers for nothin'. Did they ever give it?)

artemis05 · 06-18-2007, 11:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wolf

The girl had a cape or skirt of cormorant skins, IIRC. (Funny, I know the dog's name was Rontu (and his son Rontu-Aru) but I can't remember hers for nothin'. Did they ever give it?)

was it zia? or was the name of her niece in the sequel?

rupip · 06-19-2007, 08:19 AM

i wonder what they have the burning basket for?

- light for the fish to see them, being curious and come to the surface
- to stress the cormorant
- to keep warm
- for a simple and quick BBQ after pulling out the fish of the birds throat

other theories...?

Silazius · 06-19-2007, 08:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rupip

i wonder what they have the burning basket for?

- light for the fish to see them, being curious and come to the surface
- to stress the cormorant
- to keep warm
- for a simple and quick BBQ after pulling out the fish of the birds throat

other theories...?

Marshmallow roast?

Cloud · 06-19-2007, 01:17 PM

I don't remember the book too well, but I do remember reading it in school. We probably learned about the cormorant fishing then.

wolf · 06-19-2007, 01:25 PM

I think the cormorant fishing book was a picture book ... water color looking illustrations? Come on, someone else must have seen this!

glatt · 06-19-2007, 01:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wolf

I think the cormorant fishing book was a picture book ... water color looking illustrations? Come on, someone else must have seen this!

You don't mean the Story About Ping, a duck on the Yangtze river, do you?

xoxoxoBruce · 06-19-2007, 02:10 PM

Welcome to the Cellar, spudcon.

Quote:

....hold it well away from you as you carry it home; these birds are exceedingly verminous and the lice are said to be not entirely host-specific.

wolf · 06-19-2007, 03:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by glatt

You don't mean the Story About Ping, a duck on the Yangtze river, do you?

Yes, that's the one!

wolf · 06-19-2007, 01:27 PM

Lots of pictures detailing the pre-fishing ritual and fishing.

Clodfobble · 06-19-2007, 04:34 PM

Oh my God! Glatt, that was one of my favorite books as a child, and I had completely forgotten about it until you linked it just now. I think I may have to buy it from Amazon right now.

Edit: Ha! I just noticed one of the product reviews at the bottom of the page:

Quote:

Using deft allegory, the authors have provided an insightful and intuitive explanation of one of Unix's most venerable networking utilities... The book describes networking in terms even a child could understand, choosing to anthropomorphize the underlying packet structure. The ping packet is described as a duck, who, with other packets (more ducks), spends a certain period of time on the host machine (the wise-eyed boat). At the same time each day (I suspect this is scheduled under cron), the little packets (ducks) exit the host (boat) by way of a bridge (a bridge). From the bridge, the packets travel onto the internet (here embodied by the Yangtze River).
...
If you need a good, high-level overview of the ping utility, this is the book. I can't recommend it for most managers, as the technical aspects may be too overwhelming and the basic concepts too daunting.
...
The Story About Ping has earned a place on my bookshelf, right between Stevens' Advanced Programming in the Unix Environment, and my dog-eared copy of Dante's seminal work on MS Windows, Inferno.

06-18-2007, 02:35 PM	#1
Undertoad Radical Centrist Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Cottage of Prussia Posts: 31,423	June 18, 2007: Ukai, traditional Japanese comorant fishing Welcome, it's Neatorama Collaboration Monday! The Sydney Morning Herald had this one featuring Ukai, a traditional fishing method that has been used in Japan for 1300 years, or so they say. In Ukai, you use a sea bird, a comorant, on a leash to fish for you. It's pretty disgusting and so the practice is pretty much limited to a small group of traditional fishermen. Why? This page has more detail, including the note that they have to prevent the bird from eating the fish somehow. So they put a small ring around its neck, and once the bird catches something... ..you make it cough up the goods. According to Neatorama's Alex, the practice was originally founded in China. Be sure to visit Neatorama for more neato items all the time!

06-18-2007, 02:52 PM	#2
xoxoxoBruce The future is unwritten Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 71,105	Birds always swallow fish head first to avoid being impaled on the fish's spines. I wonder how they disgorge the fish without getting injured? __________________ The descent of man ~ Nixon, Friedman, Reagan, Trump.

06-18-2007, 06:02 PM	#3
monster I hear them call the tide Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Perpetual Chaos Posts: 30,852	This fishing practice features in one of the Bond books. __________________ The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity Amelia Earhart

06-18-2007, 06:12 PM	#4
Cloud ... Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 8,360	I remember cormorant fishing from the book Island of the Blue Dolphins. __________________ "Guard your honor. Let your reputation fall where it will. And outlive the bastards!"

06-18-2007, 06:24 PM	#5
wolf lobber of scimitars Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Phila Burbs Posts: 20,774	I remember cormorant killing from that book, but not fishing. There was some other kid's book that had fishing thing in it, wasn't there? The girl had a cape or skirt of cormorant skins, IIRC. (Funny, I know the dog's name was Rontu (and his son Rontu-Aru) but I can't remember hers for nothin'. Did they ever give it?) __________________ wolf eht htiw og "Conspiracies are the norm, not the exception." --G. Edward Griffin The Creature from Jekyll Island High Priestess of the Church of the Whale Penis

06-19-2007, 08:19 AM	#7
rupip Salzburger Nockerl Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Salzburg, Austria Posts: 37	i wonder what they have the burning basket for? - light for the fish to see them, being curious and come to the surface - to stress the cormorant - to keep warm - for a simple and quick BBQ after pulling out the fish of the birds throat other theories...?

06-19-2007, 01:17 PM	#9
Cloud ... Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 8,360	I don't remember the book too well, but I do remember reading it in school. We probably learned about the cormorant fishing then. __________________ "Guard your honor. Let your reputation fall where it will. And outlive the bastards!"

06-19-2007, 01:25 PM	#10
wolf lobber of scimitars Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Phila Burbs Posts: 20,774	I think the cormorant fishing book was a picture book ... water color looking illustrations? Come on, someone else must have seen this! __________________ wolf eht htiw og "Conspiracies are the norm, not the exception." --G. Edward Griffin The Creature from Jekyll Island High Priestess of the Church of the Whale Penis

06-19-2007, 01:27 PM	#14
wolf lobber of scimitars Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Phila Burbs Posts: 20,774	Lots of pictures detailing the pre-fishing ritual and fishing. __________________ wolf eht htiw og "Conspiracies are the norm, not the exception." --G. Edward Griffin The Creature from Jekyll Island High Priestess of the Church of the Whale Penis

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