The Fisheries of Japan 



213 



fish,and perhaps the most curious method 

 of fishing is addressed to it. There is 

 no time to refer in detail to this fish, and 

 I can only say that it is a diminutive 

 member of the salmon family, inhabits 

 all the rivers of Japan and Formosa, 

 being at its best in the mountain streams, 

 is probably the most delicious of the 

 fresh-water fishes, and has habits which 

 are not possessed by any other known 

 fish. It is an annual fish — the entire 

 period of its life, from the egg to its 

 death, covering rather less than a year. 

 The Japanese have devised many appli- 

 ances and methods for taking it, and, 

 not content with pitting their own in- 

 genuity against it, have impressed into 

 their service one of the most skillful of 

 fish-catching birds, the cormorant. 



FISHING WITH CORMORANTS 



The origin of cormorant fishing in 

 Japan is lost in a very remote antiquity. 

 At least a thousand years ago it is 

 known to have flourished, and there is 

 a tradition of its existence upward of 

 two thousand years ago. Much romance 

 and history are connected with the fish- 

 ery in the early days, and the names 

 of some of Japan's greatest warriors 

 and statesmen are associated with it. 

 While a commercial enterprise, it does 

 not, however, give employment to many 

 people and is not conducted in many 

 places. It is confined to rivers, and 

 the most extensive, interesting, and 

 famous fishery is that in the Nagara 

 River and the most noted of the cor- 

 morant fishing villages is in the out- 

 skirts of the large city of Gifu. 



At the time of my visit, the chief 

 cormorant fisherman, whose ancestors 

 for many generations had engaged in 

 this fishery in the same locality, attired 

 himself in the peculiar dress of the pro- 

 fession for the purpose of exhibiting his 

 birds and the methods of handling 

 them. Later he and all the other fish- 

 ermen on the river went to a rendezvous 

 and gave a practical demonstration of 

 cormorant fishing. 



The cormorants are controlled by 

 means of a slender cord, which passes 

 around the bird's breast and is tied in 

 the middle of the back. The cord is 

 made of woody fibers of the cryptomeria 

 tree, with the exception of a short section 

 next to the bird, which consists of 

 whalebone. There is a supplemental 

 cord tied around the neck at the lower 

 end of the gullet for the purpose of 

 preventing the fish from passing so far 

 that they cannot be recovered. The 

 tying of this cord is a delicate opera- 

 tion, for if too tight it may injure the 

 bird and if too loose it will allow the 

 fish to be swallowed. 



The fishery is conducted from boats, 

 which are of a special type, being long, 

 narrow dug-outs, propelled primarily 

 by paddles, but when en route to the 

 fishing grounds often provided with a 

 sail. Each boat has a crew of 4 men and 

 a complement of 16 cormorants. Late 

 in the afternoon the boats start for a 

 place in the river where fishing will be- 

 gin, the cormorants being stowed away 

 in pairs in bamboo baskets. The fishing 

 grounds cover many miles, and opera- 

 tions are confined to successive sections 

 of the river nightly, in accordance with 

 law. Stretches several thousand yards 

 in length are set aside as Imperial pre- 

 serves, on which no fishing is permitted. 



As soon as darkness prevails, a blaz- 

 ing fire of pine wood is kindled in the 

 iron basket overhanging the bow of the 

 boat, and the boats drift downstream 

 together, sometimes in a mixed group, 

 sometimes in a line extending across the 

 river, each guided and propelled by 2 

 men. The captain, standing near the 

 bow, manages 12 cormorants and his 

 assistant 4, the cords being held be- 

 tween the fingers and frequently shifted 

 as the birds move about. With the 

 cormorants diving and darting in all 

 directions, those of different boats often 

 mingling, it is a wonder that they do 

 not soon become inextricably tangled, 

 but so skillfully are they managed that 

 the lines rarely become fouled. In a 



