... may or may not be the exact representative of the society ...


There are many types of fishermen. - but can be broadly classified in two main groups.

1. Those whose primary purpose is to fish
2. Those whose primary purpose is something else

Please note, that one fisher(wo)man's knowledge about fishes does not depend on his(her) affiliation to either group. But in general the first group has more in depth knowledge.


The groups can be subdivided further in many genres and sub-genres..

The ethnic one...

... is actually the most interesting one. Unfortunately, I do not have much experience with these. These people fish to eat (the catch or whatever they get in exchange of it) and earn a life.

The ethnic commercial hybrid...

.. are also interesting at times. When I was in India, I have encountered some of these guys. They do there fishing with semi-classical methods, and they aim for the market. For example, instead of using classical nets made out of plant fiber, they use nets made from nylon twines. Now this is still a folk-instrument. What I mean is, the nylon they use is collected from old automobile tires. They do it themselves, there was no industry at no scale to do it, when I was there. The deployment and handling method of the net is still classical.

Picture: A fishing boat returns home. I know the picture sucks. The silvery stuff is fish. The boat has mounted upright bamboo poles. They use ropes made from coconut fiber to make a line between the poles, and hang their fresh catch in the line everyday. Sunlight dries the fish. The whole trip can be as long as three months! Taken in Orissa, India

I used to suck at camera that time, but I will try to get put whatever I managed.

In India, if you talk with these people, they will talk, but work at the same time. They will dump their catch to the wholesale market to a merchant, and then again rush out to the sea. The more they supply to the merchant, the better. They get awful price for their work, like for a 100 kilograms of fresh fish, they get 10 buck, just 10 bucks or so..

They will tell you about the weather, about the fact that someone else had better catch, due to some reasons they will explain, and their family problems. But the family part will be short, such that no one gets an 'unwanted' impression. They are particularly careful about their women and girls, and no outsider must become interested in that. They can kill you if they think you are crossing the line.

Then they will rush out for the next boat trip to the sea.

 

 

Pictures: Fishermens' catch, orissa, India

Pictures: Fishermen working, Orissa, India

 

Pictures: Boats

The domestic one ...

.. catches fish rather than buying it from market. The purpose is to have it for household food, and only for household food. They do not do it for sport, even though the sport catch often end up in dinner table.

I have seen them at work in India, but never had any close encounters. Under dark green palm trees, whose shade protect you from scorching tropical sun, they cast their nets or hurl their lines

Picture: Adomestic fisherman from India, not my shot, from flickr


The commercial one...

... is what the name suggests

Never met one, but the non-fishing crew is friendly. If you happen to pass a shipping trawler, they wave, and smile from their cabins. Not sure how much of this action is attributed to the big rucksack and camera of mine...

The drunk one ..

.. does it for sport, but in essence the only thing they manage is to drink beer. They flock together, and has more beer than bait. Also has music loud enough to scare the fish away. If you happen to get there with a camera, they shout "whhhuuuhuuu photo", some one else shouts "no photo", and this is an infinity loop.

The overserious one..

.. does not like you talking to him.. All comments, questions etc, receive only one roar - "jaaa", and then he turns his head off. They normally roar than talk. does it for sport, like everyone else following.

Normally found in groups of two, and the volume of instruments is often more than the volume of the the fishermen together...

The master one ...

... grunts when you talk, and then leaves the place. Always stays alone. When in good mood, 'shares' the secrets, which he hopes can move the world..

Picture: Solitary Master, Bremen


The moderate one ...

.. moves slowly, and smiles to you if you try to interact, but not a social butterfly. I wished good luck for fish-hunt to one today. He smiled for a couple of minute, with his gear holding high, and then thanked me.

The guerrilla one ...

... stays in small groups, has apparently no sense of humor. Actually their sense of humor is restricted to members of same clan, i.e. close buds. I saw one today, and seeing his huge amount of gear, asked whether he is going to hunt some shark fish .. He said 'nnnnn'.

Always suspicious, and nerves always active. Moves very fast, trusts and share jokes that no one else can truly enjoy with his bud.

Picture: Guerilla type fisherman



The familyman one ..

.. officially introduces other family members or friends to fishing, but is actually having a family (or buddy-) get-together on a regular basis.

In some places, such as South England, I have seen them talking so much, while the young girls are running around, that the fish is way gone by the time they remember that there is a fishing line deployed in action.

Picture: Teach me how to fish

In Greece I have seen them chewing potato chips, constantly gazing at the other side than where their lines are. Actually the girls are on the side they are gazing.

In Spain I have seen them doing only two things after hurling the lines - drinking vino, and smoking cigarette.

In Germany I have seen them playing chess, card, poker etc, sitting beside their lines. These are the only creatures who actually takes a look at the line time to time.



The urban one ...

... hurls his line in the water, walks down the street by the river, through the crowd, dragging his line in water with him, wanting to but hesitating to talk to people..

He walks through the crowd, looks at people, loosens his grip on the fishing pole, and prepares himself to talk to the approaching stranger. But never gains the courage. The stranger passes off, the fisherman is disappointed by himself one more, and seeks refuge by grabbing his pole more tightly than ever.

Picture: The Urban one, Bremen


The hobo one ...

.. also walks down the street like the urban one, but does not talk. He just shakes his head time to time, and looks like a hobo.

The jobless one ...

... fishes because he has no job.

When I was in England, I meet a man there, called ....  He worked in Phillip Morris, as a engineer in one of the factories. They made a factory in former communist Russia, and the customs of Russia blocked their imports of raw material. They demanded some bribery, which Phillip Morris denied publicly.

So for seven days they earned money without working. The brand new factory just stayed there, no raw material.

Then Phillip Morris made a factory in Poland, and got cheaper workers there. The workers there, engineering graduates, worked as labors, which was shocking to him. They used to ask him, "which uni did you graduate from Mr ..., that you have the post of an engineer" - He was shocked even more... He told me later, he used be just a slacker.

During this time, Phillip Morris got some people to work on his post in low wage. No comment on quality of that work. He lost his job, and had nothing more to feed his family. So he took up fishing.

That place in south England has Jurassic chalk deposits. I was hunting for fossils there. When I was listening to him, he asked what I was doing there. I informed him about my intentions of fossil hunting. He said he has too much time, nothing to do. If I could show him how to find fossils. I said yes, and then bid a bye.. I did not take it seriously.

When I was returning after a successful hunt, I saw him still in the same place. I said that I am leaving the rest of the fossils for him. He requested me to show him how to do it, in a voice that sounded serious. So I took him to the face, and gave him a little intro. He sounded happy at that.


Fossils made a jobless, hopeless man happy ...