A traditional method of fishing practiced for hundreds of years in Japan, called ukai, involves flames and cormorants. Sounds way more fun than a fishing pole or net, right?! The fishermen place a large basket full of fire out over the water, and as fish come near the surface, the fishermen release Japanese cormorants on leashes. The cormorants catch the fish and return them to the fishermen. There’s a great photo essay on PhotoTravels.com about this now-rare fishing method:

Japanese blogger Sumi_handy’s has captured ukai in a cool little scene: