## Fun Facts - When fishing, head for driftwood and steep drop-offs, or just lay out some floating detritus. Fish like to hang out in the shadows. - The indigenous people of British Columbia made [nets for fishing and catching birds](https://staff.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/2018/10/11/spindle-whorls-of-british-columbia-part-2) out of "fireweed" and "stinging nettle" plant fibers. - Evidence of [deep sea fishing](https://www.nature.com/articles/nature.2011.9461) dates as far back as 42,000 years ago. - Paleolithic peoples from Okinawa made [fishhooks out of sea snail shells](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/qnyevd/how_accurate_are_the_claims_made_in_the/hkazukj). - Although Mongolian lakes and rivers are full of fish, traditionally [Mongols don't fish](http://countrystudies.us/mongolia/39.htm) because it can't be done from horseback. ## Fishing Dams Around 4,000 years ago, the Khoisan of southern Africa built stone dams along the shoreline as a fishing technique. During high tide, seawater would flow into the areas behind the dams. Later, the water would filter out between the stones, and fish would get stranded in the pools behind the dams. This made them easy to catch. Coastal communities were still maintaining and using these structures into the 20th century. ([Source](https://www.upress.virginia.edu/title/2705)) ## Fish Thieves Although [whale attacks are rare](https://www.godownsize.com/do-animals-attack-boats/), they do happen. Most of the time when a whale "attacks" a boat, it's because they were harassed or they accidentally bumped the ship while going up for air. The rest of the time, it's because they wanted to steal fish from a fisherman. Orcas, though, take it to the next level: sometimes 40+ orcas will swarm a fishing boat to strip it of its cargo. ## Taming Fishers Fishermen in [a variety of societies leverage wild animals to help them with fishing](https://blogs.bl.uk/science/2015/06/fishing-from-the-earliest-times.html). Oppian of Rome wrote "a five-book didactic epic on fishing" in which he discusses how fishermen would shout to get the attention of dolphins, wait for the dolphins to herd schools of fish into the shallows where the men waited, and then catch all the fish and share with the dolphins. Some people still fish with tame otters and cormorants. New Guineans manipulate spiders into spinning fishing nets for them. ## Ritual Insurance Although cattle and sheep were very important for ritual reasons to the early herders in the western Eurasian Plains region, they actually weren't eaten that often. People sacrificed sheep, goats, cattle and horses during funerary feasts, but for the most part, these animals were kept as an insurance policy and as a way of marking status. 70% of the herder diet was actually fish. ([Source](https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691148182/the-horse-the-wheel-and-language)) --- 💚 If you learned something from this overview, consider sending it to a friend and encouraging them to [sign up](https://eleanorkonik.com/membership/) for more research deep dives into obscure history and science. 👀 Do you have any interesting stories about fishing adventures? Please share!