Fishing Chinese style

No line, rod, hook nor bait are needed for fishing. An elderly fisherman and his cormorants are seen on the Lijiang River in Gulin. Photo:MAIL ONLINE

Guided only by the flicker of their lanterns and the last light of a dimming sun, three cormorant fishermen drift silently across a Chinese lake, hoping to make a last catch for the day.
With its myriad shades of purples and blues, this stunning photograph provides an eery and touching snapshot of a dying tradition, all but stamped out by big business.
As the sun sets in these remarkable images, taken in China's Guangxi Zhuang region to record the ancient art of the cormorant fisherman, so to fades the light of a once vibrant and lucrative industry that has taken place in Japan and China for more than a thousand years.
No line, rod, hook nor bait are needed in this time-honoured and mutual union between man and bird.
Instead, the practice involves sending trained cormorants into the water to catch fish and bring them back alive for the fisherman's net.
To control the birds, the fishermen tie a snare near the base of the their throat, preventing them from swallowing larger fish.