A fisherman or fisher is someone who captures

fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...

and other animals from a

body of water A body of water or waterbody is any significant accumulation of water on the surface of Earth or another planet. The term most often refers to oceans, seas, and lakes, but it includes smaller pools of water such as ponds, wetlands, or more rare ...

, or gathers shellfish. Worldwide, there are about 38 million commercial and subsistence fishers and fish farmers. Fishermen may be professional or recreational. Fishing has existed as a means of obtaining food since the

Mesolithic The Mesolithic (Ancient Greek language, Greek: μέσος, ''mesos'' 'middle' + λίθος, ''lithos'' 'stone') or Middle Stone Age is the Old World archaeological period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic. The term Epipaleolithic i ...

period.Early humans followed the coast
BBC News articles

History

Fishing has existed as a means of obtaining food since the

period. Fishing had become a major means of survival as well as a business venture. Fishing and fishermen have also influenced Ancient Egyptian religion; mullets were worshipped as a sign of the arriving flood season. Bastet was often manifested in the form of a

catfish Catfish (or catfishes; order (biology), order Siluriformes or Nematognathi) are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Catfish are common name, named for their prominent barbel (anatomy), barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, though not ...

. In ancient Egyptian literature, the process that

Amun Amun was a major ancient Egyptian deity who appears as a member of the Hermopolitan Ogdoad. Amun was attested from the Old Kingdom together with his wife Amunet. His oracle in Siwa Oasis, located in Western Egypt near the Libyan Desert, r ...

used to create the world is associated with the tilapia's method of mouth-brooding.

Commerce

Charles Napier Hemy - The Fisherman 1888

According to the

FAO The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; . (FAO) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger and improve nutrition ...

, there were about 39 million fishermen in countries producing more than 200,000 tonnes in 2012, which is nearly 140% the number in 1995. The total

fishery Fishery can mean either the enterprise of raising or harvesting fish and other aquatic life or, more commonly, the site where such enterprise takes place ( a.k.a., fishing grounds). Commercial fisheries include wild fisheries and fish far ...

production of 66 million tonnes equated to an average productivity of 3.5 tonnes per person. Most of this growth took place in

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

n countries, where four-fifths of world fishermen and fish farmers dwell.

''Fishing people''
Retrieved 7 July 2008. Most fishermen are involved in offshore and deep-sea fisheries. Women and men fish in some regions inshore from small boats or collect shellfish and seaweed. In many artisanal fishing communities, women or men are responsible for making and repairing nets, post-harvest processing and

marketing Marketing is the act of acquiring, satisfying and retaining customers. It is one of the primary components of Business administration, business management and commerce. Marketing is usually conducted by the seller, typically a retailer or ma ...

Recreation

Recreational fishing is fishing for pleasure or competition. It can be contrasted with commercial fishing, which is fishing for economic profit, or subsistence fishing, which is fishing for survival. The most common form of recreational fishing is done with a rod, reel, line, hooks and any one of a wide range of baits. Lures are frequently used in place of bait. Some people make handmade lures, including plastic lures and artificial flies. The practice of catching or attempting to catch fish with a hook is called

angling Angling (from Old English ''angol'', meaning "hook") is a fishing technique that uses a fish hook attached to a fishing line to tether individual fish in the mouth. The fishing line is usually manipulated with a fishing rod, although rodless te ...

, and fishers using this technique are sometimes referred to as ''anglers''. When angling, it is sometimes expected or required that the fish be caught and released. Big-game fishing is fishing from boats to catch large open-water species such as tuna,

shark Sharks are a group of elasmobranch cartilaginous fish characterized by a ribless endoskeleton, dermal denticles, five to seven gill slits on each side, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the ...

s and marlin. Noodling and trout tickling are also recreational activities.

Communities

For some

communities A community is a Level of analysis, social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place (geography), place, set of Norm (social), norms, culture, religion, values, Convention (norm), customs, or Ide ...

, fishing provides not only a source of food and work but also community and cultural identity.International Collective in Support of Fishworkers (ICSF)
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Safety issues

The fishing industry is hazardous for Artisan fishers. Between 1992 and 1999, US commercial fishing vessels averaged 78 deaths per year. The main contributors to fatalities are:

br>Profile for the USA
* inadequate preparation for emergencies * poor vessel maintenance and inadequate safety equipment * lack of awareness of or ignoring stability issues. Many fishermen, while accepting that fishing is dangerous, staunchly defend their independence. Many proposed laws and additional regulation to increase safety have been defeated because fishers oppose them.

Alaska

Alaska's commercial fishermen work in one of the world's harshest environments. The hardships they endure include isolated fishing grounds, high winds, seasonal darkness, very cold water, icing, and short fishing seasons, when very long work days are the norm. Fatigue, physical stress, and financial pressures face most Alaska fishermen through their careers. Out of 948 work-related deaths in Alaska during 1990–2006, one-third (311) were of fishermen. This is estimated to be equivalent to an annual fatality rate of 128 per 100,000 workers/year. This fatality rate is 26 times the overall U.S. work-related fatality rate of about 5 per 100,000 workers/year for the same time period. While the work-related fatality rate for commercial fishermen in Alaska is still very high, it does appear to be decreasing: since 1990, there has been a 51 percent decline in the annual fatality rate. The successes in commercial fishing are due in part to the U.S. Coast Guard implementing new safety requirements in the early 1990s. These safety requirements contributed to 96 percent of commercial fishermen surviving vessel sinkings/capsizings in 2004, whereas in 1991, only 73 percent survived. While the number of occupational deaths of commercial fishermen in Alaska has been reduced, there is a continuing pattern of losing 20 to 40 vessels every year. There are still about 100 fishermen who must be rescued each year from cold Alaska waters. Successful rescue is still dependent on the expertly trained personnel of the US Coast Guard

Search and Rescue Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search ...

operations, but their efforts can be hindered by the harshness of seas and the weather. Furthermore, the people involved in Search and Rescue operations are themselves at considerable risk of injury or death during these rescue attempts.

Gallery

File:TraditionalFisherman1Ice.JPG, Traditional Icelandic fisherman File:Shrimpers on horseback.jpg, Belgium shrimpers on horseback File:Banks shrimper.jpg, English shrimper with pushnet File:Isla Juan Fernandez- Langostas (Lobsters).jpg, Chilean fishermen with lobsters File:Fishing trawlers(Malpe).JPG, Indian fisherman File:Long Island fisherman.jpg,

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

fisherman

References

External links

* Moore, Charles W (1998
Did fishermen discover the New World?''

For Those in Peril: Dangers at Sea for fishermen on the East Coast of Scotland
historyshelf.org

North East Folklore Archive, Aberdeenshire Council. Retrieved 9 March 2011. {{Authority control Food services occupations Marine occupations