Fishing

Hunting for fish by hooking or trapping is commonly known as fishing. The word fishing also applies to pursuing squid, shellfish, turtles, frogs, octopus and some ‘safe to eat’ aquatic invertebrates. Fishing is not a modern art. This antique practice dates back its origin to the Mesolithic era which started nearly 10,000 years back. Archaeological features give us an idea that sea foods were popular in those days and consumed in considerable quantities. In those periods, a good number of people lived a hunter-gather way of life and were frequently on the move. In lack of basic farming facilities and level lands, they had to make fishing their way of life. Only after the arrival of the Neolithic culture, they got new technologies of farming and pottery along with fishing to make life happier.

As time progressed, new fishing techniques evolved which provided a better and efficient way of catching the fishes. However, the traditional ones were always hooked to the common man’s conscience. Hand fishing is the most traditional way of fishing. It is possible to fish with minimal equipment by using only your hands. In the British Isles, the practice of catching trout by hand is known as trout tickling. Hand-line fishing is a procedure needing a fishing line with a weight and one or more luring hooks. Stump fishing is a method in which the fisher grips the bait in his hand and waits for a large catfish to attempt to eat it. As soon as the fish bites off, the fisher drags his arm along with the fish from the water.

Spear fishing is a very old technique of fishing and carried out with a regular spear or the trident. Conventional spear fishing was restricted to low waters; however the improvement of the spear gun has turned it into a much more efficient way of fishing. Kite fishing, supposed to have been practiced in China for first time, is a new way of fishing which offers the boat-less fishermen access to waters that would otherwise be available only to boats. Modern kite fishing is trendy in New Zealand and also emerging fast in Melbourne’s for-off beaches. Ice fishing, the practice of grasping fish with lines and hooks through an opening in a frozen body of water, is also practiced.

Fishing is mainly for pleasure or competition. The game has rules, licensing constraints and laws that limit the way in which fish may be caught. Sport fishing is a type of competition which provides competitors a specified time and area from which they have to catch fish. Commercial fishing makes available a large quantity of food to many countries around the world. Commercial fishermen provide their attention to almost all aquatic species, from tuna, cod and salmon to shrimp, krill, lobster, clams, squid and crab. The fishing methods have been made very efficient using large nets and high-tech processing factories.