Guillin
On the lovely Li River.
Locals have fished these waters for over 1,000 years.
Though lately,
the explosive growth of riverside towns like Yangshuo
has threatened both the river
and their way of life.
Forcing many to move aboard their boats.
These once quiet waters now swarm with tour boats.
Tourism brings jobs,
trash,
and traffic,
but in this case
it’s also caused the fish stock to crash.
In 2011
the government forbade net fishing for several months each year
while they tried to restock the Li with fingerlings.
Faced with no way to feed their families,
a few of the more ingenious fishermen
decided to revive an ancient tradition,
Using birds to fish.
Cormorants, to be exact.
Though they quickly realized they could make more money showing tourists
than they do from selling the fish.
The birds are raised by hand
half slave,
half pet
and are reasonably tame.
He starts by tying a thin cord around the bird’s neck.
This prevents it from swallowing larger fish.
Cormorants have been used in Asia to catch fish for well over 1,000 years.
Each bird weighs over 10 pounds.
Their short wings and webbed feet propel them through the water like missiles.
But they can’t fly particularly well.
They hunt together like wolves.
A team of cormorants can catch 20-30 large fish in an evening.
Once they’ve caught a fish
he pulls them in and relieves them of it.
Cormorants are supposed to be quite smart.
These guys know when their master has had too much to drink
and take full advantage.
I wonder how many times each fish is getting eaten?
Once they’re done
he unties the string around their necks
and leashes them.
They have an interesting relationship.
Those beaks could really do him harm
but they hold back
and so does he.
They have to dry their feathers out immediately.
Cormorants don’t secrete protective oil,
so they can die of cold.
And then they finally get to eat.
It’s astonishing how much they can swallow.
Unless he's forgotten to untie their string.
A few creative fishermen have come up with an even better way of making money.
Why bother catching fish
when all you really have to do is cook them?
They invite tourists onto their live-aboard boats for an evening meal.
The view is stunning
though you probably don’t want to know where the food has been.
At least there’s beer.
And a chance to see what life is like aboard a boat.
In the end,
the tourism that is transforming rural China
may save the fishermen
and their way of life.
and perhaps the Li river as well.