With just a bird , a gas lamp and a net , each morning , fisherman in China keep a special , thousand year old tradition alive . Sailing peacefully across a river , the men fish without the aid of a rod with this unusual method , which was first practiced in 960 AD . The men , pictured in southern China , release a cormorant bird , which then dives into the water and retrieves a carp , returning it to the fisherman 's reed raft . With just a bird , a gas lamp and a net , each morning , fishermen in China keep a special , thousand year old tradition alive . The stunning images were captured on the River Li in Guilin , China , by a Russian photographer called Viktoriia Rogotneva . The 45-year-old , from St Petersburg , was captivated upon visiting the fishermen in the town . 'Every fishermen has a reed raft , a few trained cormorants and a small source of light - usually a kerosene lamp , ' he said . 'In the morning the fishermen go to the river and let the cormorants go . The birds are very hungry and dive into the water to catch big carp . ' Sailing peacefully across the river , the men men fish without the aid of a rod with this unusual method , first practiced in 960 AD . A man releases a cormorant bird , which then dives into the water and retrieves a carp , returning it to the fisherman 's reed raft . The fishermen quite literally just take the carp right out of the bird 's mouth after the hungry animals return with their haul . These breathtaking early morning images were captured by 45-year-old Viktoriaa Rogotneva from St Petersburg , Russia . 'The cormorants then return to the surface of the water , and the fishermen take the fish right out the bird 's beak , ' Rogotneva added . The elderly fishermen of Guiliin spend between two and three hours on the lake each every morning , and while cormorant fishing only produces about 4kg of carp per day , the men are determined to keep this special practice alive . To control the birds , the fishermen tie a ring near the base of the bird 's throat , which prevents them from swallowing any large fish , but allows them to eat smaller fish with no discomfort . The images were all shot on the River Li in Guilin , China , which is in the southern part of the country . Heading out in the dawn 's light , each man is equipped only with a reed raft , a few trained cormorants and a small kerosene light source . The elderly fishermen spend anywhere between two to three hours per day on the lake , despite the low yields from cormorant fishing . On average , the men will only produce about 4kg of carp per day , but are still determined to keep this beautiful practice alive = . This fishermen bring up the birds from when they are tiny chicks , so the cormorant is more of a pet than a hunter . This way of fishing is 'absolutely ecologically safe , ' says Rogotneva , who insists that the fishermen catch only as much as they need . Rogotneva said : 'These fishermen bring up their birds from when they are very small chicks , so you can almost call the cormorant a pet , like you would a dog . 'It is an absolutely ecologically safe way of fishing . Every fisherman just catches as much as he needs for his family and they are never greedy . ' I really enjoy looking for these unusual moments , they make for beautiful photos . '
Elderly fishermen in Guilin , China , keep the unusual , ancient tradition of cormorant bird fishing alive . The bird , which they have often raised from a chick , dives into the water and retrieves a carp for its owner . This is an ecologically safe way of fishing , as the birds are not harmed and the men only catch what they need .