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進入《TAIPEI TIMES》 Fisher becomes cultural ambassador of Nanfangao
Liao Ta-wei, front, paddles a canoe in Yilan County on Feb. 23. Photo courtesy of Liao Ta-wei
By Chang I-chen and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writer
Yilan fisherman Liao Ta-wei （廖大瑋） has made a name for himself as a cultural ambassador for the county’s Nanfangao （南方澳）, taking visitors on tours throughout the fishing town’s streets.
“Nanfangao is not just my hometown, it is the resting place of my father’s soul,” Liao said.
Liao, 56, can be seen any day of the week with a towel flung over his shoulder, holding a microphone and telling visitors stories from the town’s past.
“If I do not take good care of this town I will not be able to face my father when I see him in heaven,” Liao said.
Having grown up in the town and being raised by his father, who repaired fishing vessels, Liao said he cannot imagine not living near the sea.
Despite having lost his father to an accident when he was only 10 years old, he said his father instilled in him a deep interest in fishing vessels and machinery.
Liao said he has worked with different kinds of machinery in various industries, including firefighting equipment and telecommunications devices.
He later went to Vietnam to work as a rice farmer, but he became homesick and returned to Nanfangao in 2009, he said.
The town plays an important role in the nation’s mackerel fishing industry, which has traditionally been done with small bamboo rafts called diao cao zai （釣槽仔）, which disembark from larger vessels at sea.
The method was most popular between 1950 and 1970, but made a comeback in the year he returned to the town, Liao said.
Generally there are between 10 and 20 rafts to a vessel, each carrying one fisher, he said.
The fishers drop a line with 100 hooks and a piece of torn cloth attached to each hook, Liaod said, adding that the mackerel bite the hooks, mistaking the pieces of cloth for food.
Using the method, fishers can catch up to 100kg of mackerel per hour, as it is an easy fish to catch, he said.
Liao was quickly hired as a fisher upon his return to the town, given his experience and knowledge about rafts, and vessel and equipment repair, he said, adding that he jumped at the opportunity to get back into the industry.
Liao said that marine conservation, as well as preservation of the town’s culture, are important to him.
He said taking visitors out on boats and letting them experience fishing firsthand has enabled him to inform people about the importance of conservation and to appreciate the hard work of fishers.
Liao and seven other fishers last year rowed small boats for 37 hours to follow the migratory paths of the mackerel, eventually ending up near Japan’s Ishigaki Island, he said, adding that the experience helped him appreciate the vastness of the ocean and its currents.
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
