Extraordinary Photos From History Explained

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The Fisher King

Cloud Front

This is a picture of a man and his cormorant heading out on a fishing trip. Cormorant fishing is a traditional fishing method by which trained cormorants are made to fish in rivers. Cormorant fishing has taken place all over the world, from China and Japan, to Greece, Macedonia, England, and France. It is described in the ancient Japanese Book of Sui, which is the official history of the Sui Dynasty of China, completed in 636 AD. To control the birds, the fishermen tie a snare near the base of the bird’s throat which prevents it from swallowing larger fish. These large fish are held in the cormorant’s throat and the fisherman brings the bird back to the boat and has it spit the fish up. Though cormorant fishing was once a successful industry, it is no longer commercially viable, so its primary us today is for tourism.