![OlausMagnusFishingOtterCartaMarina1539](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/27/OlausMagnusFishingOtterCartaMarina1539.png)
Otter fishing is a
fishing technique
Fishing techniques are methods for catching fish. The term may also be applied to methods for catching other aquatic animals such as molluscs (shellfish, squid, octopus) and edible marine invertebrates.
Fishing techniques include hand-gatherin ...
which uses trained
otters to fish in rivers. This method has been practised since the 6th century in various parts of the world, and is still practiced in southern
Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
.
History
Otter fishing has been practiced historically in a number of regions including Central Europe, Northern Africa, the British Isles, Scandinavia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, China and South America.
The earliest records of otter fishing are from the
Yangtze
The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest river in Asia, the third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains (Tibetan Plateau) and flows ...
region of China during the
Tang dynasty
The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdom ...
(618–907) and was observed in the 13th century by
Marco Polo on the
Yangtze River
The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest list of rivers of Asia, river in Asia, the list of rivers by length, third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in th ...
. Otter fishing in China was practiced for subsistence and also collectively for profit. The Chinese reputedly learned the techniques from the fishermen of Southeast Asia. In India, otter fishing was practiced in the
Indus and
Ganges
The Ganges ( ) (in India: Ganga ( ); in Bangladesh: Padma ( )). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international river to which India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China are the riparian states." is ...
river basins, in
Bengal
Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...
and in
South India
South India, also known as Dakshina Bharata or Peninsular India, consists of the peninsular southern part of India. It encompasses the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, as well as the union territ ...
along the
Coromandel Coast
The Coromandel Coast is the southeastern coastal region of the Indian subcontinent, bounded by the Utkal Plains to the north, the Bay of Bengal to the east, the Kaveri delta to the south, and the Eastern Ghats to the west, extending over an ...
.
Otter fishing was known in Europe from as early as the 16th century. The
Scandinavia
Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Swe ...
ns trained otters for catching
trout
Trout are species of freshwater fish belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', '' Salmo'' and '' Salvelinus'', all of the subfamily Salmoninae of the family Salmonidae. The word ''trout'' is also used as part of the name of some non-salm ...
.
Olaus Magnus
Olaus Magnus (October 1490 – 1 August 1557) was a Swedish writer, cartographer, and Catholic ecclesiastic.
Biography
Olaus Magnus (a Latin translation of his birth name Olof Månsson) was born in Linköping in October 1490. Like his elder ...
, the Archbishop of Uppsala, published a tome in 1555, ''De Gentibus Septentrionalibus'' (On Northern Peoples), which includes a sketch of a fishing otter.
One of the motifs of Magnus's 1539 map of Scandinavia, ''
Carta marina
''Carta marina et descriptio septentrionalium terrarum'' (Latin for ''Marine map and description of the Northern lands''; commonly abbreviated ''Carta marina'') is the first map of the Nordic countries to give details and place names, created by S ...
'', is an otter fetching a fish for its master, who is ready with a knife and a cooking vessel on the fire.
Fishing with otters was known in England, Scotland, Germany and Poland. The first mention of otter fishing in the British Isles dates to 1480, while the method for training otters is described in the 1653 book on angling by
Izaak Walton, ''The Compleat Angler''.
Individual sportsmen in the Americas and Europe have also used otters for sport fishing.
British sportsmen who had served in South India during the early years of the Raj have been known to import this practice to their homes in Europe.
Otter fishing is also reported from Central and South America.
A
Maxacali creation story from Brazil suggests that the practice of otter fishing may have been prevalent in the past.
Fishermen from Guyana used a different tactic – they would observe where an otter deposited its catch and later purloin the fish.
Method
In the Old World, two otter species have been primarily used in otter fishing – the
European otter
The Eurasian otter (''Lutra lutra''), also known as the European otter, Eurasian river otter, common otter, and Old World otter, is a semiaquatic mammal native to Eurasia. The most widely distributed member of the otter subfamily (Lutrinae) of th ...
(''Lutra lutra''), chiefly in Europe and North Africa, and the
smooth-coated otter
The smooth-coated otter (''Lutrogale perspicillata'') is an otter species occurring in most of the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, with a disjunct population in Iraq. It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 1996 and is threa ...
(''Lutrogale perspicillata''), mostly in South Asia and China.
And in the New World, only the
giant otter
The giant otter or giant river otter (''Pteronura brasiliensis'') is a South American carnivorous mammal. It is the longest member of the weasel family, Mustelidae, a globally successful group of predators, reaching up to . Atypical of muste ...
(''Pteronura brasiliensis'') has been used, usually in South America.
Olaus Magnus wrote that the otter often fetches the catch for its master but "once in awhile forgets and eats the fish".
Izaak Walton's 1653 book describes otter pups, three to four months old, being domesticated and trained. The otters were muzzled to prevent them eating fish and secured by lines to their master. The otters then chased fish in a pond into a net. Another technique was to submerge nets and get the otters to shepherd the fish into them, after which the nets, along with otters and catch, were retrieved.
In ancient China, the otter wore a leather harness on its body to which an iron chain was attached. The other end of the chain was either secured to the fisherman's boat or to a bamboo pole. The fisherman would cast his circular net, weighted at the edges, and pull it in. As the net was being pulled in, the otter would be introduced into the net through a small opening. The otter's role was to search for and disturb fish hiding in nooks and crannies and force them into the net so that they were trapped. The otter was subsequently rewarded in the case of a good catch.
The practice of using otters to drive fish into nets was prevalent in Asia and is still practiced in southern Bangladesh.
Bangladesh
Otter fishing is still practiced in
Narail
Narail ( bn, নড়াইল, pron: ''nɔɽail'') is a district in south-western Bangladesh. It is a part of Khulna Division.
History
Narail town was named after a feudal lord (a zamindar). The zamindars established a market at Roopgonj, als ...
and
Khulna districts, near the
Sunderbans in southern
Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
. Here fishing with otters is a traditional practice in families, passed down through the generations by fishermen who breed the otters and train them to chase the fish into their nets. Earlier, both ''Lutra lutra'' and ''Lutrogale perspicillata'' were used for otter fishing, but today, only ''L. perspicillata'' is used. Otter fishing is usually done at night between 9 PM and 5 AM. The average catch by a single boat in a night ranges from of crabs, fish and shrimp. Feeroz et al. (2011) recorded a population of 176 domesticated otters held in captivity amongst 46 groups of fishermen in these districts, of which 138 were working animals. Lack of fish, changes sought in livelihoods by the young and more economical methods of fishing have reduced the number of otter fishermen drastically.
File:Otter Fishermen Harbaria Sundarban National Park Bangladesh - panoramio.jpg, Otter fishermen with nets, in Bangladesh
See also
*
Cormorant fishing
Cormorant fishing is a traditional fishing technique in which fishermen use trained cormorants to catch fish in rivers. Historically, cormorant fishing has taken place in Japan and China, as well as Greece, North Macedonia, and briefly, England an ...
References
Further reading
*
External links
Video: Journeyman Pictures & ABC Australia. ''Traditional Otter Fishing in Bangladesh (1997)''Video: BBC (9 April 2012). ''Threat to otter fishing in Bangladesh''Video: Time.com (27 Mar 2014). ''Otters Have Helped Bangladesh Fishermen Catch Fish For Centuries''Slideshow: CBS News (11 March 2014). ''Otters aid Bangladesh fishermen''
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Fishing in Bangladesh
Fishing techniques and methods
Otters
Working animals