Fishing is the activity of catching fish. There are many fishing techniques, such as netting, trapping, angling and gathering.
By extension, the term fishing may be applied to pursuing other aquatic animals such as different types of shellfish, squid, octopus, turtles, frogs, and some edible marine invertebrates. The term fishing is not usually applied to pursuing aquatic mammals such as whales, where the term "whaling" is more appropriate, or to commercial fish farming.
Fishing is an ancient and worldwide practice with various techniques and traditions and has been transformed by modern technological developments. In addition to providing food through harvesting fish, modern fishing is both a recreational and professional sport.
According to FAO statistics, the total number of fishermen and fish-farmers is estimated to be 38 million. Fisheries provide direct and indirect employment to an estimated 200 million people worldwide.[1] The average person on Earth consumes about 14 kg of fish a year.
Fishing is an ancient practice that dates back at least to the Paleolithic period which began about 40,000 years ago.[3] Archaeological features such as shell middens,[4] discarded fish bones and cave paintings show that sea foods were important for survival and consumed in significant quantities. During this period, most people lived a hunter-gather lifestyle and were, of necessity, constantly on the move. However, where there are early examples of permanent settlements (though not necessarily permanently occupied) such as those at Lepenski Vir, they are almost always associated with fishing as a major source of food.
The Neolithic culture and technology spread worldwide between 4,000 and 8,000 years ago. With the new technologies of farming and pottery came basic forms of all the main fishing methods that are still used today.
The ancient river Nile was full of fish; fresh and dried fish were a staple food for much of the population.[5] The Egyptians invented various implements and methods for fishing and these are clearly illustrated in tomb scenes, drawings, and papyrus documents. Some representations hint at fishing being pursued as a pastime. In India, the Pandyas, a classical Dravidian Tamil kingdom, were known for the pearl fishery as early as the 1st century BC. Their seaport Tuticorin was known for deep sea pearl fishing. The paravas, a Tamil caste centred in Tuticorin, developed a rich community because of their pearl trade, navigation knowledge and fisheries. Fishing scenes are rarely represented in ancient Greek culture, a reflection of the low social status of fishing. However, Oppian of Corycus, a Greek author wrote a major treatise on sea fishing, the Halieulica or Halieutika, composed between 177 and 180. This is the earliest such work to have survived intact to the modern day. Pictorial evidence of Roman fishing comes from mosaics.[6] The Greco-Roman sea god Neptune is depicted as wielding a fishing trident. The Moche people of ancient Peru depicted fisherman in their ceramics.
In traditional Chinese history, history begins with three semi-mystical and legendary individuals who taught the Chinese the arts of civilization around 2800–2600 BC; of these, Fu Hsi was reputed to be the inventor of writing, hunting, trapping, and fishing.
One of the world’s longest lasting trade histories is the trade of dry cod from the Lofoten area to the southern parts of Europe, Italy, Spain and Portugal. The trade in cod started during the Viking period or before, has been going on for more than 1000 years and is still important.
[edit] Traditional fishing
Main article: Artisan fishing
Traditional fishing is a term used to describe small scale commercial or subsidence fishing practises, using traditional techniques such as rod and tackle, arrows and harpoons, throw nets and drag nets, etc. The term might be used when talking about the pressures between large scale modern commercial fishing practises and traditional methods, or when aid programs are targeted specifically at fishing at or near subsistence levels.
Techniques
There are many techniques for fishing. Fishermen often employ hooks and fishing line. Fishing nets, fish traps, and trap nets may be used to capture fish. Lobster and crab pots use a similar method. Hand fishing consists of fishing with the hands and minimal equipment. In spear fishing, the fish is killed using an ordinary spear or a specialized variant. Closely related to spear fishing is bow fishing. Various cultures have used trained animals to assist in fishing; one notable example is Asian cormorant fishing. Kite fishing allows the fisherman to cast far into the water, even without a boat. Dredging is sometimes used to collect scallops or oysters from the seabed. Many hunter gatherer cultures use poisonous plants to stun fish so that they become easy to collect by hand; cyanide is also sometimes used for fishing. Other fishing techniques include electrofishing and dynamite fishing. Some techniques are bottom trawling, seining, driftnetting, handlining, longlining, gillnetting, dragging, tiling, and diving.
Tackle
Fishing tackle is a general term that refers to the equipment and gear used by commercial, subsistence and sport fisherman while fishing. Almost any of the equipment or gear used by fisherman in the direct process of fishing for and catching fish can be referred to as fishing tackle.
Recreational fishing
Recreational and the closely related sport fishing describe fishing for pleasure or competition. Recreational fishing has conventions, rules, licensing restrictions and laws that limit the way in which fish may be caught; typically, these prohibit the use of nets and the catching of fish with hooks not in the mouth. The most common form of recreational fishing is done with a rod, reel, line, hooks and any one of a wide range of baits. The practice of catching or attempting to catch fish with a hook is known as angling. In angling, it is sometimes expected or required that fish be returned to the water (catch and release). Recreational or sport fishermen may log their catches or participate in fishing competitions.
Big-game fishing describes fishing from boats to catch large open-water species such as tuna, sharks and marlin. Sport fishing (sometimes game fishing) describes recreational fishing where the primary reward is the challenge of finding and catching the fish rather than the culinary or financial value of the fish's flesh. The most common fish sought after are marlin, tuna, tarpon, sailfish, shark and mackerel along with other species of fish.
The fishing industry
Commercial fishing provides a large quantity of food to many countries around the world, but those who practice it as an industry must often pursue fish far into the ocean under adverse conditions. Commercial fishermen harvest almost all aquatic species, from tuna, cod and salmon to shrimp, krill, lobster, clams, squid and crab, in various fisheries for these species. Commercial fishing methods have become very efficient using large nets and sea-going processing factories. Many new restrictions are often integrated with varieties of fishing allocation schemes (such as individual fishing quotas), and international treaties that have sought to limit the fishing effort and, sometimes, capture efficiency.
Fishing methods vary according to the region, the species being fished for, and the technology available to the fishermen. A commercial fishing enterprise may vary from one man with a small boat with hand-casting nets or a few pot traps, to a huge fleet of trawlers processing tons of fish every day.
Commercial fishing gears today are surrounding nets (e.g. purse seine), seine nets (e.g. beach seine), trawls (e.g. bottom trawl), dredges, hooks and lines (e.g. long line and handline), lift nets, gillnets, entangling nets and traps.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, total world capture fisheries production in 2000 was 86 million tons (FAO 2002). The top producing countries were, in order, the People's Republic of China (excluding Hong Kong and Taiwan), Peru, Japan, the United States, Chile, Indonesia, Russia, India, Thailand, Norway and Iceland. Those countries accounted for more than half of the world's production; China alone accounted for a third of the world's production. Of that production, over 90% was marine and less than 10% was inland.
There are large and important fisheries worldwide for various species of fish, mollusks and crustaceans. However, a very small number of species support the majority of the world’s fisheries. Some of these species are herring, cod, anchovy, tuna, flounder, mullet, squid, shrimp, salmon, crab, lobster, oyster and scallops. All except these last four provided a worldwide catch of well over a million tonnes in 1999, with herring and sardines together providing a catch of over 22 million metric tons in 1999. Many other species as well are fished in smaller numbers.