Gone fishing – Schooling the seas of life

My whole life has been devoted to schools.

For more than three decades I was committed to schools for people.  Around ten years ago I shifted my attention to schools of fish.

Schools of people can be funny, trying, challenging, and always fun.  Schools of managers may define (or ruin) what the school will be, schools of students will keep it challenging, but it is the school of teachers that provide (or not) the soul of the people school.

Schools of fish on the other hand provide a universe so beautiful and baffling.  It is not only the fish, but the boats, the oceans and the fisher folk that  come together on those early, early mornings, ready to start the rituals of folk that live symbiotically with sea. It is pure theatre in dynamic and captivating settings. Soon y0u discover that there is a sameness in the rituals involved, as if written and directed by the same person.

The personae soon look the same too, the sun endowing new colors on their skin, toasting this  to a crisp darkness , hair reddened a deep copper, eyes  somewhat lighter. Some magic happens.

Fishing boats in Estancia, Iloilo, Philippines

Fishing Boats in Muncar, Indonesia

Fishing boats in Penglai, China

Fishing Boats in Vietnam

The boats have a universal look and feel. The catch is held in a hold, somewhere below the floor of the boat. The fishermen take extreme care to treat the catch with a sense of fragility.

Muncar, Indonesia

Bohol, Philippines

The catch is brought to land where it blesses the lives of many , finding  its way to various markets, or sold as food in restaurants or the streets as street food.

Shrimps - Zambales, Philippines

Stingray - Iloilo, Philippines

The commerce of the catch is itself quite entertaining.

There is an element of the  theatre in the buying and selling of fish in the Philippines.  At dawn, buyers meet with fishermen on the shores as the fishermen unload their catch, and the “bulungan” (whispering) ensues.  The blocking is simple – a buyer approaches the fisherman and whispers his price for the catch.  This goes on until the fisherman is offered the best price

Qingdao, China: Street food, squid

Muncar, Indonesia

In wet markets on the other hand, sellers sing out their goods, in and effort to outsell the competition.  This is called “kantahan” (sing-out), and makes for a very lively and energetic ambience as vendors try to out sing each other.  Musical theatre in the wet market!

This element of theatre seems universal and the same can be seen in many fishing villages around the world . . .