Undertoad Monday Jun 18 03:35 PMJune 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!
xoxoxoBruce Monday Jun 18 03:52 PMBirds 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 Monday Jun 18 07:02 PMThis fishing practice features in one of the Bond books.
Cloud Monday Jun 18 07:12 PMI remember cormorant fishing from the book Island of the Blue Dolphins.
wolf Monday Jun 18 07:24 PMI 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?)
jinx Monday Jun 18 07:42 PMIsland of the Dolphins I think
Elspode Monday Jun 18 09:44 PMI'm assuming they cook these fish pretty much right on the spot, then?
xoxoxoBruce Monday Jun 18 10:02 PMI don't think so, I thought they feed the tourists mostly.
artemis05 Tuesday Jun 19 12:47 AM
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?)
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was it zia? or was the name of her niece in the sequel?
rupip Tuesday Jun 19 09:19 AMi 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 Tuesday Jun 19 09:32 AMHow about....
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...?
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Marshmallow roast?
xoxoxoBruce Tuesday Jun 19 09:50 AMThe light from the fire attracts the fish. Around these parts they use a camping lantern. The Japs also use a drum, or beat on the boat, to attract the fish but I should think that would drive them away.
sandypossum Tuesday Jun 19 11:32 AMIs that a Japanese smurfette working on the boat?
spudcon Tuesday Jun 19 11:40 AMwonder what they have the burning basket for?
The burning basket is to singe off the cormorant feathers before they eat them. That's what happens after selling the fish to tourists. Tastes like chicken.
Sundae Tuesday Jun 19 01:50 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by spudcon
The burning basket is to singe off the cormorant feathers before they eat them. That's what happens after selling the fish to tourists. Tastes like chicken.
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I can't think of a bird less likely to taste like chicken. Also, ask yourself - if cormorants are so damn tasty, they are used to catch fish rather than eaten.
Still, if you're still hankering for a cormorant recipe:
Quote:
Having shot your cormorant, 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. Hang up by the feet with a piece of wire, soak in petrol and set on fire. This treatment both removes most of the feathers and kills the lice.
When the smoke has cleared away, take the cormorant down and cut off the beak. Send this to the local Conservancy Board who, if you are in the right area, will give you 3/6d or sometimes 5/- for it. Bury the carcase, preferably in a light sandy soil, and leave it there for a fortnight. This is said to improve the flavour by removing, in part at least, the taste of rotting fish.
Dig up and skin and draw the bird. Place in a strong salt and water solution and soak for 48 hours. Remove, dry, stuff with whole, unpeeled onions: the onion skins are supposed to bleach the meat to a small extent, so that it is very dark brown instead of being entirely black.
Simmer gently in seawater, to which two tablespoons of chloride of lime have been added, for six hours. This has a further tenderising effect. Take out of the water and allow to dry, meanwhile mixing up a stiff paste of methylated spirit and curry powder. Spread this mixture liberally over the breast of the bird.
Finally roast in a very hot oven for three hours. The result is unbelievable. Throw it away. Not even a starving vulture would eat it.
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From Countryman’s Cooking, by W.M.W. Fowler, published by Excellent Press, via Times Online
Cloud Tuesday Jun 19 02:17 PMI don't remember the book too well, but I do remember reading it in school. We probably learned about the cormorant fishing then.
wolf Tuesday Jun 19 02:25 PMI think the cormorant fishing book was a picture book ... water color looking illustrations? Come on, someone else must have seen this!
wolf Tuesday Jun 19 02:27 PMLots of pictures detailing the pre-fishing ritual and fishing.
glatt Tuesday Jun 19 02:47 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!
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You don't mean the Story About Ping, a duck on the Yangtze river, do you?
xoxoxoBruce Tuesday Jun 19 03:10 PMWelcome 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.
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wolf Tuesday Jun 19 04:56 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by glatt
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Yes, that's the one!
Clodfobble Tuesday Jun 19 05:34 PMOh 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.
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glatt Tuesday Jun 19 08:31 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Clodfobble
I think I may have to buy it from Amazon right now.
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Do it. Minifob will thank you.
La la la lee!
chrisinhouston Monday Jun 25 10:23 AMThis guy's bandaged fingers makes me wonder if the birds inflict a little damage as they are being readied for the fishing expedition.
spudcon Friday Apr 4 10:14 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by spudcon
The burning basket is to singe off the cormorant feathers before they eat them. That's what happens after selling the fish to tourists. Tastes like chicken.
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Okay, I guess I was wrong. Change last line to "Tastes like shit."
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