Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1922-04-20
PRINCE TO.SE]E[
some FISHING
BY 0RMORA N
to Britain's Throne to
4 See Strange In
dustry.

III Tokio--On a moonless night, Hum:
sAnateda only by blazing torches, Ed
ward, Prince OF Wales, will be taken;
= o q trip along the River Niagara to
witness strange cormOrant fishing
industry while on his visit to Japan
sas {, guest OF the imperial government.
NJ This curious method OF catching
gdsh with birds instead of hook and
aAine has existed in Japan from time
ssimmemordal. s..Twenty-eight men, four
boats and. 81 birds constitute a,work-
SAng unit OF these picturesque fishing
nets to be seen in many sections of
Japan but particularly along the
Niagara river.
Iii, The cormorants are trained when
quite young and will continue to wOrk
FOR is and even 20 years. When we'll
apird will average about $50 fish an
hour.
"A Handles IL Birds.
The master fisherman. distinguished
by his peculiar hat, stands in the bow
handling no fewer than IL, birds with
remarkable skill. Another fisherman,
with four birds. is situated, amidsh1p.
a third. member OF the. crew is station
ed between the%two. armed with a
piece Of bamboo which he strikes to
keep the birds AZ their work, at the
same time II encouraging them by
shouts and cries.
Each cormorant$ has ring OF metal
oe bone around the base of its neck
permitting 1t Ito swallow the smaller
fish as food but effectively stopping
those Of marketable size from passing
Round the body Of the bird is a
cord. to whichfis attached in the mid
die of the back o short strip Of stiff
whalebone, witiFFwhtch to lower the
bird into the water or LIFT it out again
and q thin rein OF spruce fibre, Twelve
feet long. %
The master lowers his IL birds into
the stream and holds the reins in his
left hand manipulating them with his
right as occasion requires. The sec
ond fisherman does the same with his
four birds while the third man begins
his volleys of noise.
The birds start diving and ducking
with wonderful swiftness as the fish
come swimming toward the blaze of
light. The master has a busy time
handling his IL strings to prevent
them tangling while, the birds are
dashing htther and thither.
* When n Of the birds becomes en-
gorged, it swims about in a foolish,
helpless way, with it's head and swol-
1Su IlSCk. SASCL gill SlAlc 1AldSI0E 1lAulOS
it in. He forces its bill open with
his left hand, still holding the other
lines, and squeezes ont the fish with
his right, after which he returns the
bird to- its work. This ID all done
with euch admirable dexterity and
quickness> that the other birds have
not had time to become entangled and
immediatelysSSthe whole team Il again
perfectly in hand. g. w
Each Bird Numbered. ~
Each bird has its own number and
knows it. No. l "Ichi" is the doyen
Of the corps. the senior in years as
we'll as rank and his companions &C
cording to their age come after him
in numerical order. Ichi is the last
to be Put into the water and the first
to be taken out, the first to be fed
and he last to enter the baskets when
the work is over. Ichi has the post
of honor in the ewes of the boat. He
Is a solemn, grtzzled old fellow, with
a pompous air. The others are placed
alternately on either side of the gun
vale according to their rank and
should the lawful order Of Precedence
at any time be violated, a terrific
rumpus occur among them.
After the fishing is over, as each
cormorant is taken out of the water
the master can tell by its weight
whether it has had enough to eat
during the hunt and If not, the bird is
fed with the inferior fish that have
been caught.