Fishing

Fishing is the activity of hunting for fish. By extension, the term fishing is also applied to hunting for other sea animals such as various types of shellfish as well as squid, octopus, turtles, frogs and some edible marine invertebrates. The term fishing is not applied to the hunting of aquatic mammals such as whales. Fishing is an ancient and worldwide practice with many techniques and traditions, and it has been transformed by modern technological developments.

Fishing in antiquity

Origins

File:Hook for angling, made of bone, from Swedish Stone Age, found in Skåne, Sweden.jpg

Stone Age fishing hook made from bone.

Fishing is a very ancient practice that dates back at least to the mesolithic period which began about 10,000 years ago. We know from archeological features such as shell middens [1], discarded fish bones and cave paintings that sea foods were important and consumed in significant quantities. During this time, most people lived a hunter gather life style and were, of necessity, constantly on the move. However, there are a few early examples of permanent settlements (though not necessarily permanently occupied) such as those at Lepenski Vir - these are almost always associated with fishing as a major source of food.

The neolithic culture and technology which spread worldwide between about 8,000 and 4,000 years ago. With the new technologies of farming and pottery came basic forms of most fishing methods known today.

Fishing may even pre-date the development of modern humans. There is a controversial theory called the Aquatic ape hypothesis which proposes that the ancestors of modern humans went through one or more periods of time living in a semi-aquatic setting, that they gathered most of their food from shallow coastal or other waters before their descendants returned to a more land-based existence.

Ancient Archaeology

Ancient representations

The ancient river Nile was full of fish; fresh and dried fish were a staple food for much of the population. The Eqyptians invented various implements and methods for fishing and these are clearly illustrated in tomb scenes, drawings, and papyrus documents. Simple reed boats served for fishing. Nets were woven; weir baskets were made from willow branches; harpoons and hook and line, the hooks having a length of between eight millimetres and eighteen centimetres and by the 12th dynasty metal hooks with barbs were being used. The captured fish were clubbed to death. Nile perch, catfish and eels were among the most important fish. Some representations hint at fishing being pursued as a pass-time

Fishing scenes are rarely represented in ancient Greek culture, a reflection of the low social status of fishing. There is a wine cup, dating from 510–500 BC, that shows a boy crouched on a rock with a fishing-rod in his right hand and a basket in his left. In the water below, a rounded object of the same material with an opening on the top. This has been identified as a fish-cage used for keeping live fish, or as a fish-trap. It is clearly not a net. This object is currently in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Image:Ancient angler

Pictorial evidence of Roman fishing comes from mosaics which show fishing from boats with rod and line as well as nets. Various species such as conger, lobster, sea urchin, octopus, cuttlefish are illustrated. Image of Roman mosaic. In a parody of fishing, a type of gladiator called retiarius was armed with a trident and a casting-net, he would fight against the murmillo, who carried a short sword and a helmet with the image of a fish on the front.

The Greko-Roman sea god Neptune is depicted as wielding a fishing trident.

Ancient Literature

There are numerous references to fishing in ancient literature; in most cases, however, the descriptions of nets and fishing-gear do not go into detail, and the equipment is described in general terms. An early example from the Bible in Job 41:7: Canst thou fill his skin with barbed irons? or his head with fish spears? [2]

Oppian of Corycus, a Greek author wrote a major treaties on sea fishing, the Halieulica or Halieutika, composed between 177 and 180. This is the ealiest such work to have survived intact to the modern day. Oppian describes various means of fishing including the use of nets cast from boats, scoop nets held open by a hoop, spears and trident, and various traps “which work while their masters sleep”. Oppian’s description of fishing with a “motionless” net is also very interesting:

The fishers set up very light nets of buoyant flax and wheel in a circle round about while they violently strike the surface of the sea with their oars and make a din with sweeping blow of poles. At the flashing of the swift oars and the noise the fish bound in terror and rush into the bosom of the net which stands at rest, thinking it to be a shelter: foolish fishes which, frightened by a noise, enter the gates of doom. Then the fishers on either side hasten with the ropes to draw the net ashore.

From ancient representations and literature it is clear that fishing boats were typically small, lacking a mast or sail, they were only used close to the shore.

In traditional Chinese history, history begins with three semi-mystical and legendary individuals who taught the Chinese the arts of civilization around 2800-2600 BC: of these Fu Hsi was reputed to be the inventor of writing, hunting, trapping, and fishing.

Fishing techniques

Hand fishing

It is possible to fish with minimal equipment by using only the hands. In the USA catching catfish in this way is known as Noodling.

In the British Isles, the practice of catching Trout by hand is known as Trout tickling, it is an art mentioned several times in the plays of Shakespeare.

Trout binning is a method of fishing, possibly fictional, performed with a Sledgehammer. [3]

Divers can catch lobsters by hand.

Pearl diving is the practice of hunting for oysters by free-diving to depths of up to 30m.

Spear and bow fishing

Spear fishing is an ancient method of fishing and may be conducted with an ordinary spear or a specialised variant such as an eel spear (Image) or the trident. A small trident type spear with a long handle is used in the American South and Mid-West for "gigging" bullfrogs with a bright light at night, or for gigging carp and other trash fish in the shallows.

Traditional spear fishing is restricted to shallow waters, but the development of the speargun has made the method much more efficient. With practice, divers are able to hold their breath for up to four minutes; of course, a diver with underwater breathing equipment can dive for much longer periods.

Hunter gatherers may use the bow to kill fish in shallow water.

Fishing nets

All fishing nets are meshes usually formed by knotting a realtivley thin thread.

A small hand net held open by a hoop and possibly on the end of a long stiff handle has been known since and antiqity and may be used for sweeping up fish near the water surface. In England, hand netting is the only legal way of catching eels and has been practiced for thousands of years on the River Parrett and River Severn.

A casting net is circular with a weighted periphery. Sizes vary up to about 4m diameter. The net is thrown by hand in such a manner that speads out on the water and sinks. Fish are caught as the net is hauled back in. [4].

Coracle-fishing is performed by two men, each seated in his coracle and with one hand holding the net while with the other he plies his paddle. When a fish is caught, each hauls up his end of the net until the two coracles are brought to touch and the fish is then secured.

The Chinese fishing nets found at Kochi in India are an unusal method of fishing. Huge mechanical contrivances hold out horizontal nets of 20m or more across. The nets are dipped into the water and raised again, but otherwise cannot be moved.

A seine is a large fishing net that hangs vertically in the water by attaching weights along the bottom edge and floats along the top.

Trawling is a method of fishing that involves actively pulling a fishing net through the water behind one or more boats.

A Gillnet catches fish which try to pass through it by snagging on the gill covers, thus trapped, the fish can neither advance trough the net nor retreat.

Ghost nets are nets that have been lost at sea may continue to be a menace to wildlife for many years.

Dredging

There are types of dredges used for collecting scallops or oysters from the seabed. They tend to have the form of a scoop made of chain mesh and they are towed by a fishing boat. Scallop dredging is very destructive to the seabed, and nowadays is often replaced by scuba diving to collect the scallops.

Fishing lines

Fish are caught with a fishing line by encoraging a fish to bite upon a fish hook or a gorge. A fishing hook will pierce the mouthparts of a fish and may be barbed to make escape less likely. A gorge buried in the bait it would be swallowed end first; then the tightening of the line would fix it cross-wise in the quarry's, stomach or gullet and so the capture would be assured.

Fishing with rod and line is called angling.

Trolling is a technique in which a fishing lure on a line is drawn through the water. Trolling from a moving boat is a technique of Big-game fishing and is used when fishing from boats to catch large open-water species such as tuna and marlin. Trolling is also a freshwater angling technique.

Long-line fishing is a commercial fishing technique that uses hundreds or even thousands of baited hooks hanging from a single line.

Kite fishing

Kite fishing was invented in China and was (and is) also know to the people of of New Guinea and other Pacific Islands. It is not clear whether kite fishing was communicated or of independent invention. Suitable kites may be of very simple construction, those of Tobi island are as follows: a large leaf stiffened by the ribs of the fronds of the coconut palm; fishing line may be made from coconut fibre and lure made from spiders webs.

Kites can provide the boatless fisherman access to waters that have been heretofore available only to boats and for boat owners, kites provide a way to fish in areas where it is not safe to take their boats such as shallows or coral reefs where fish may be plentiful. Kites can also be used for trolling a lure through the water.

Ice fishing

Ice fishing is the practice of catching fish with lines and hooks through an opening in the ice on a frozen body of water. It is practiced by hunter-gatherers such as the Inuit. Image

Fish traps

Traps are cluturally almost universal and seem to have been independently invented many times. There are essentially two types of trap, a permanent or semi-permanent structure placed in a river or tidal area and pot-traps that are baited to attract prey and periodically lifted.

The aboriginal natives of Australia were, prior to European colonisation, most populous in Australia's better-watered areas such as the Murray-Darling river system of the south-east. Here, where water level's fluctuate seasonally, the native australians constructed several ingeniously constructed stone fish traps. Unfortunately most have been completely or partially destroyed. The largest and best known were the Brewarrina fish traps on the Barwon River at Brewarrina in New South Wales, which fortunately are at least partly preserved [5]. The Brewarinna fish traps caught huge numbers of migratory native fish as the Barwon River rose in flood and then fell. In southern Victoria, the aboriginals created an elaborate systems of canals, some more than 2km long. The purpose of these canals was the encouragement and catching of eels, a fish of short coastal rivers (as opposed to rivers of the Murray-Darling system). The eels were caught by a variety of traps including stone walls constructed across canals with a net placed across an opening in the wall. Traps at different levels in the marsh came into operation as the water level rose and fell. Somewhat similar stone wall traps were constructed by native American Pit River people in northeastern California. [6]

In medieval Europe, large fishing weir structures were constructed from wood posts and wattle fences. 'V' shaped structures in rivers could be as long as 60m and worked by directing fish towards fish traps or nets. Such fish traps were evidently controvercial in medieval England, the Magna Carta includes a clause requiring that they be removed:

All fish-weirs shall be removed from the Thames, the Medway, and throughout the whole of England, except on the sea coast. [7]

Basket weir fish traps were widely used they are shown in medieval illustrations and surviving examples have been found. Basket weirs are about 2m long comprise two wicker cones, one inside the other - easy to get into and hard to get out. [8]

Pot traps are typically used to catch Crustaceans such as crabs, lobsters and crayfish. Pot traps such as the Lobster trap may be constructed in various shapes, each is a mesh box designed with a convoluted entrance that makes entry much easier than exit. The pots are baited and lowered into the water and checked daily.

Trained animals

In China and Japan the practice of Cormorant fishing is thought to date back some 1300 years. Fishermen use the natural fish-hunting instincts of the Cormorants to catch fish, but a metal ring placed round the bird's neck prevents large, valuable fish being swallowed. The fish are instead collected by the fisherman. [9]

Dating from the 1500s in Portugal, Portuguese Water Dogs were used by fishermen to send messages between boats, to retrieve fish and articles from the water, and to guard the fishing boats.

Toxins

Many hunter gatherer cultures use poisonous plants to stun fish so that they become easy to collect by hand. Some of these poisons paralyze the fish, others are though to work by removing oxygen from the water. [10]

Cyanides are used to capture live fish near coral reefs for the aquarium and seafood market. This illegal fishing occurs near mainly in the Philippines, Indonesia and the Caribbean to supply the 2 million marine aquarium owners in the world. Many fish caught in this fashion die either immediately or in shipping. Those that survive often die from shock or from massive digestive damage. The high concentrations of cyanide on reefs so harvested has also resulted in cases of cyanide poisioning among local fishermen and their families.

Explosives

Dynamite or blast fishing, is done easily and cheaply with dynamite or homemade bombs made from locally available materials. Fish are killed by the shock waves from the blast and are then skimmed off the surface or collected from the bottom. These explosions indiscriminatly kill large numbers of fish and other marine organisms in the vicinity and destroy the physical environment. Explosions are particularly damaging to coral reefs. [11]

Modern fishing

Recreational fishing

Main article Angling

Recreational fishing is fishing for pleasure or competion. Recreational fishing generally has conventions, rules of competion, licencing restrictions or laws that limit the way in which fish may be caught. Typically, these prohibit the use of nets and catching fish with hooks not in the mouth.

Recreational fishing is generally done with a rod and line with a wide range of lures or bait, this is known as angling.

Very often, it is expected or required that the fish are all returned to the water (catch and release). The practice is however disputed by some who consider that it is unethical to perform actions alleged to be painful to a fish for fun and not for the reason of food production. Fishermen refute this charge, pointing out that fish commonly feed on hard and spikey prey items, and as such can be expected to have tough mouths, and also that some fish will re-take a lure they have just been hooked on, a behaviour that is unlikely if being hooked was painful.

A definitive science-based conclusion on the issue is unavailable. However, a variety of scientific studies have recorded very high survival rates (95 to 99+ percent) for caught and released fish.

Critics of catch-and-release also fail to realise that catch-and-release will become more and more necessary to conserve fish stocks in the face of increasing populations, increasing fishing pressure and increasing habitat degradation. The alternative of banning or severely restricting angling is not reasonable or feasible.

The sustainability of recreational fishing is an important issue. Unfortunately recreational fishermen can have potent effects on fish stocks, particularly with large, slow growing species. The only way for growing numbers of recreational fishermen to continue fishing however is for catch and release practices, in combination with techniques such as strong tackle (to get fish in quickly, for release in good condition) and barbless hooks (to reduce damage to fishes mouths), to become widely practiced.

Sport fishing is a recent phenomenon of recreational fishing where fishermen compete for prizes based on the total weight of fish caught in a time limit. This sport evolved from local fishing contests into a large competition circuit in the U.S.A. where professional fishermen can compete and be supported by professional endorsements, and other large-scale tournaments around the world.

Big-game fishing and is used when fishing from boats to catch large open-water species such as tuna and marlin.

Noodling and Trout tickling may be persued as a recreation.

Recreational fishing laws also include other aquatic species, such as frogs and turtles.

Commercial fishing

Main article Fishing industry

Commercial fishing provides a large quantity of food to many countries around the world, but those who pursue it as an industry must often pursue fish far into the ocean under bad conditions. Commercial fishermen harvest almost all aquatic species, from tuna, cod and salmon to shrimp, krill, lobster, clams, squid, crab. Commercial fishing methods have become very efficient using large nets and sea-borne processing factories. Many new restrictions are often integrated with varieties of fishing allocation schemes, and international treaties that have sought to limit the yearly fishing effort.

Fishing methods vary according to the region, the species being fished for, and the technology available to the fishermen. A commercial fishing enterprise may vary from one man with a small boat with hand-casting nets or a few pot traps, to a huge fleet of trawlers processing tons of fish every day.

Some common commercial techniques today are trawling, seining, driftnetting, handlining, longlining, gillnetting, and diving. Also see Krill fishery

Preservation

Fish packed in ice.
Canned fish.

Canned fish.
A fish-drying rack. Hovden in Norway.
Kipper: salted and smoked herring.

Early methods of preservation included drying and salting. Fish may be cured, pickled or smoked.

See:

Haddock: Arbroath Smokie (lightly smoked).
Herring: Kipper (salted and smoked), Surströmming (fermented), Rollmops (pickled), soused (salted).
Salmon: smoked salmon, cured salmon and Gravlax (fermented).
Cod: Stockfish (air dried).

In the past, fishing vessels were restricted in range by the simple consideration that the catch must be returned to port before it goes rotten and is worthless. The development of refrigeration and freezing technologies transformed the commercial fishing industry: fishing vessels could be larger, spending more time away from port and therefore accessing fish stocks at a much greater distance. Refrigeration and freezing also allow the catch to be distributed to markets further inland, reaching customers who previously would have had access only to dried or salted sea fish.

Canning, developed during the 19th century has also had a significant impact on fishing by allowing seasonal catches of fish that are possibly far from large centres of population to be exploited. For example: sardines.

Fish Products

Food

Fried Fish & French Fries.
Crayfish and prawns.
Korean style raw fish.
Cooked mussels.

The flesh of many fish are primarily valued as a source of food; there are many edible species of fish as well as other sea food.

Shellfish include shelled molluscs and crustaceans used as food. Shelled molluscs include the clam, mussel, oyster, winkle and scallop; some crustaceans are the shrimp, lobster, crayfish, and crab.

Eggs, called roe, of various species many be eaten; roe comes from fish and certain marine invertebrates, such as sea urchins and shrimp. In some cultures roe is considered a delicancy, for example Caviar from the sturgeon.

Squid and octopus are valued as food.

Sea cucumber is considered a delicacy in Chinese cooking and is often served at New Year’s feasts, usually in soups. [12]

In some cultures, for example China, Japan, and Vietnam, certain species of jellyfish are consumed. [13]

Fish oil is valued as a dietary supplement.

Live Fish

Live fish are collected for the international live food fish trade. Some seafood restaurants keep live fish in aquaria for display or for cultural beliefs. The majority of live fish kept at seafood restaurants, however, are desired for the freshness of the seafood, being killed only immediately before being cooked. Suiting customer preference, this practice makes the seafood higher in quality and better in taste. The prevalence of cultural beliefs and consumer standards helps to drive the demand for the live food fish trade. Hong Kong, for example, imported an estimated 17,000 tons of live food fish in 2000. This brought the value of their live food fish trade industry to US$400 million as reported by the World Resources Institute. It is also stated that most of the fish exported to the Hong Kong market were cultured and the majority of these captures did not involve poisons.

Fish can also be collected in ways that do not injure them (such as in a seine net), for observation and study or for keeping in aquariums. There are several organization that are devoted to the improving methods of collection, transport, export and farming of wild and domesticated live fish, and usually freshwater or marine tropical fish.

Other products

Pearls and Mother-of-pearl are valued for their lustre. Traditional methods of Pearl hunting are now virtually extinct.

Sharkskin and rayskin which are covered with, in effect, tiny teeth (dermal denticles) was used for the purposes that sandpaper currently is. These skins are used to make leather. Sharkskin leather is used in the manufacture of hilts of traditional Japanesse swords.

Sea horse, star fish, sea urchin and sea cucumber are used in traditional Chinese medicine.

Tyrian purple is a pigment made from marine snails Murex brandaris and Murex Trunculus.

Sepia is a pigment made from the inky secretions of cuttlefish.

Fish glue is made by boiling the skin, bones and swim bladders of fish. Fish glue has long been valued for its use in all manner of products from Illuminated manuscripts to the Mongolian war bow.

Isinglass is a substance obtained from the swim bladders of fish (especially sturgeon), it is used for the clarification of wine and beer.

Fish emulsion is a fertilizer emulsion that is produced from the fluid remains of fish processed for fish oil and fish meal industrially.

Cultural references

Fishing is a widely used as a metaphor though as such it is possibly ambiguous. On the one hand, fishing with a net has nuances of gathering by honest effort. For example, in the New Testament, Jesus is reported as saying Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. Matthew 4:19 . On the other hand fishing with bait or lure has nuances of catching by deception possibly with an implication of greed on the part of the victim. For example, the internet scam of Phishing.