Shrimp Fishing

Shrimp fishing is both a way to pass time and to prepare the next meal. There are indoor tanks in Taipei open 24 hours a day! The shrimp (more precisely, the king prawn) is brought in from the sea and thrown into a water tank where people can fish it. The waters are opaque so we can’t easily see where they are, as if we were fishing in the sea or river.

Now, given the choice of a good vegetarian meal versus meat or fish, I usually go for the first one, for many reasons. Shrimp, for example, is a bit controversial due to the high percentage of bycatch in industrial fishery. That aside, going fishing is definitely an interesting experience, even in hard ground. There’s more nature contact in the wild waters, but in turn the tanks provide a social atmosphere. We got the help of a few people and even doubled our prawn-count thanks to a friendly and generous couple that was fishing beside us.

Though we weren’t fishing directly at the natural hangout place of these prawns, it was still interesting to make that effort for a meal, an effort that goes beyond paying for something pre-hunted and sold at a supermarket or restaurant. It enables a connection that has been lost with the modern food industry, not only because we get to hunt but also because we have to kill our own food before eating. But I have to say, from a shrimp perspective, there are better ways to die than being shoved on a stick; suddenly, boiling water seems more attractive!

All in all, it was a very relaxing and enjoyable evening… and most importantly we survived it! Just today I came across this article in the news: “Escaping shrimp infects woman, causes death.” Yikes.