Fishing Essay

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Throughout human history many methods to survival have been developed. Many of these methods of survival are still present in today’s modern society, including fishing. Fishing is simply defined as the act of catching an aquatic organism but, it has become much more than that. For some, this simple act of capturing an animal residing in a body of water has become a way of life. From eating a piece of fish in a restaurant to participating in a tournament with a grand prize of five-hundred-thousand dollars a large majority of people are affected by fishing. Through commercialization and recreational activity, fishing has become the most developed primal method of survival.
Some of the earliest records of fishing date back to the Egyptians and the Chinese around 2,000 B.C. In Egypt primarily nets were used but temporary wooden hooks attached to a primitive line were also in use; more permanent, metal hooks were yet to be developed in the area (“The History of Fishing…”). Some paintings and manuscripts from the fourth century B.C. originating from China show that hooks, fashioned from needles, were tied to bamboo rods by silk thread were being used with cooked rice as bait to catch fish (Sherman). However, out of all of the ancient cultures the Roman Empire was the most developed when it came to angling.
The Romans were extremely diverse in their methods and were known to target fish in a wide variety of habitats and environments. These methods were developed for different scenarios and vary from needing constant manpower input by multiple persons to working with minimal input, ranging from baskets, creels and pots in shallow waters to seine nets worked from two different boats Roman fishermen would always have a way to get a fis...

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... is, in addition to being a popular pastime, an extremely valuable aspect of the American economy. Also, the article shows that the current trend is a rise in jobs, income, and sales that are supported and generated by recreational fishing which gives reason to believe that fishing as a hobby is developing further and becoming more and more popular in the United States of America.
In the beginning, it was merely a primitive way to obtain food in order to survive. But, fishing has developed into a hobby, a job, and a way of life for some. Fishing has become the focus of many who are looking for a source of income, food, or a way to kill time. It has also become the source of inspiration for many artists, photographers, and authors including Derek DeYoung, Ernest Hemmingway, and AD Maddox. In the end, the level of development that fishing has achieved is astounding.

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