Blog #304 The Japanese Practice of Ukai

The Asian practice of fishing with cormorants, courtesy of Trip Advisor. 

Double-crested cormorants are increasing in number to the point where their  overabundance is problematic in some areas: Cayuga Lake has its own burgeoning  population. Cormorants are piscivorous, skilled divers that easily catch fish underwater. They are such effective predators that they out-fish Ospreys, eagles, heron, and gulls  in the area. View them hunting underwater: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLvNU7DApL0 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FR114hU90pI and  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STVQCg_G_nQ 

Humans noticed the cormorant’s abilities centuries ago and have been using them to  help feed their families. The Japanese practice of Ukai—using birds to catch fish— originated in the six or seventh century AD. It was first attributed to the ancient  Japanese in the Book of Sui, the official history of the Sui Dynasty of China, completed  in 636 CE. The practice spread to China, Korea, Ancient Egypt, Korea, India, Greece,  Macedonia, and briefly in England and France. It even appeared in pre-Columbian  Peru. As with many ancient traditional practices, Ukai has now become a tourist  attraction, making the city of Gifu in central Japan a destination. 

In China, a cormorant is being used to fish with a string around its throat, courtesy of Wikipedia. 

View this fishing “partnership” at: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cS9wzAjbJ24 

https://www.britannica.com/video/180352/method-cormorant-fishing-cormorants-Japan 

In Ukai, young wild birds are captured and learn to fish from older birds. The Japanese use flaming torches over the water to attract small fish. The fishing cormorant is  

Japanese fisherman with cormorants in tow, courtesy of Amusing Planet.

tethered for recapture, and there is a ring or string placed around their neck. The birds  swallow fish whole head-first, but only small fish can pass through the constricted  throat to the stomach. When the cormorants surface with a larger fish in their gullet, the  fishermen grab them and pull the fish out of the cormorant’s throat. There are  questions if this is humane, and understandably so—holding a bird by the neck and  pulling food out of their mouth seems at odds with modern morality. Regardless, the  traditional fishing practice is fascinating and attracts rubber-necking travelers from  across the globe. 

There is a strict protocol in traditional fishing with captive cormorants that attests to cormorant intelligence. After catching seven fish, the birds are allowed to eat the eighth fish. Without this reward the cormorants stubbornly refuse to fish again until their neck ring is loosened. They ignore orders to dive and even resist being rough pushed or knocked, sitting glumly and motionless on their perches until they are allowed to swallow  their eighth fish. Does this mean these highly intelligent birds can count to seven? Humans are  forever looking for simple answers to the complexities of nature. This behavior could simply be  a learned, trained response without higher-order reasoning. It at least suggests cormorants have good memories.  

Eyes to the sky!  

Candace  

Candace E. Cornell  

Friends of Salt Point & 

Cayuga Osprey Network  

Lansing, NY  

cec222@gmail.com  

HELP PROTECT OSPREYS: 

• Keep a distance (100-300 feet) from active nests in the  

breeding season. If an animal vocalizes when you are near,  

you are too close! BACK OFF IMMEDIATELY. 

• Carry binoculars to view wildlife from a distance. 

• Restore, clean, and preserve lakeshore and wetlands. 

• Help keep local waters clean, healthy, and safe. 

• Recycle or dispose of used fishing line and other tangable  

materials hazardous to Ospreys and other aquatic animals. 

• Volunteer to monitor Osprey nests with the Cayuga Osprey  

Network. Write to: cec222@gmail.com. 

EYES ON OSPREYS 

WATCH! 

Salt Point Osprey Nest Cam 2021 

READ! 

On Osprey Time—a blog on the Ospreys of Salt Point 

VISIT! 

Cayuga Lake Osprey Trail

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