And you thought they were only trash birds!
The art of cormorant fishing is native to China and Japan, although it is quickly disappearing in those countries. Similar in ways to falconry, this technique has been recorded as early as 960 AD and involves employing trained cormorants to capture fish. The birds are bound with a snare around their throat to prevent them from consuming any fish caught, and the cormorant is trained to return once it has captured its prey. While this method of fishing was once commercially successful, in many places it now only serves as an entertaining display for tourists.