Cormorant Fishing - A Unique Fishing Method Using Cormont Birds

For small fishermen, it is common for them to use traditional tools in order to catch fish in the waters. Interestingly enough, in Japan and China, there is a particular technique that has been practiced traditionally by the locals by utilizing birds to catch the fish.

This fishing technique is known as cormorant fishing or in Japan as "Ukai". It was believed to have existed 1,300 years ago and proof of it can be found in several historical records like the Book of Sui which was the official record of the Sui Dynasty in China.

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But it seems that this technique is seen to have ceased to exist due to modern fishing techniques that are far more convenient.

The Use Of Cormont Birds

In this special technique, only the bird species of Cormont is used in the fishing process. Commonly, the fishermen will take with them 12 birds on the boat to catch the fish. On top of that, fishing activities are usually done at dusk or nighttime.

Some of you might wonder how these fishermen control all the birds at once. Well, the fishermen will tie up the necks of the birds using a rope as this will prevent the birds from swallowing big-sized fish that they managed to catch.

Worry not as the birds are not suffocating by any means as the tie is not too tight which allows the birds to eat small-sized fish easily. The Cormont birds are used for this case as they have the efficiency and capability to quickly dive into the waters and catch the fish.

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In Japan, the Cormont species like Phalacrocorax capillatus are commonly used whereas, in China, they preferred P. carbo species instead. Due to its long-shaped neck, this bird can keep up to 6 medium-sized fish in their throat at one time.

Tourist Industry In Japan

Despite this technique rarely being spoken of today, it is still being utilized in certain places in Japan. In fact, this fishing technique has become one of the main points of attraction for tourists to witness for themselves the uniqueness of such a technique.

In Japan, fishing using the Ukai technique can still be seen in several rivers like the Nagaragawa River in Gifu city. During the summer, you can come to these locations on the respective date to see for yourself the Ukai fishing technique.

Nakagawa River (Gifu City) : 11 May - 15 October
Hozu River (Kyoto City) : 1 July - Midst of September
Uj River (Uji City) : July - September

For tourism purposes, a specialized boat is available for tourists to see up close the cormorant fishing technique used by Japanese fishermen.

Depending on the location, these boats will be available each day of the season except during high tides. One trip will generally take 1 hour and will cost tourists between 1,500 - 3,500 yen.

Tourist Industry In China

The Ukai technique is also one of the popular tourist attractions in China. One particular destination for such activity will be the Lia River or Guilin River located in the Guanxi region.

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You can see the activity in the picture above specifically in the local villagers of Xingping along the rivers nearby. Some of the veteran fishermen actually generate decent income from the fishing industry mainly Huang Yuechuang and his brother Huang Mingde who are both more than 70 years old.

In the beginning, both of them worked together with a tourism company to bring tourists to their fishing areas. The location quickly went viral after many pictures of this place spread to the whole world.

As of today, Huang Yuechuang and Huang Mingde are capable of running this business themselves without the help of the tourist agents. They will simply go to this river 25 days in a month for this fishing purpose.

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