Shouldn't We All Be Fishing on Stilts?

This week, I got inspired by how people make a living in Sri Lanka fully in tune with nature. After reading about all the fighting between the country's army and the LTTE and the thousands of people having to flee their homes, this was a nice reminder that Sri Lanka normally is a beautiful and peaceful country.

In any case, the fishermen in the south, mainly in the southwestern district of Galle, sit on 2-m high stilts about 20 m away from the coast. On a platform that is hardly bigger than a palm, during the monsoon and for hours. Why? Because this is the only way without disturbing the fish. Nets and bathing tourists disturb them and then they might move to a different part of the reef, not to return for years maybe.

Amazing, isn't it? Though the fishermen have more their livelihood in mind than they are environmentally conscious, the story is a perfect example of how being in balance with nature can be so simple and so beautiful. Sure, it's a tough job for hardly any money, but so can be the 9 to 5 rat race...

The story's making the rounds on the internet right now, so you might have seen the pics but only my version has the background on why, when and how stilt fishing started in southwestern Sri Lanka.

Enjoy!

P.S. The beautiful picture was taken by Mark Panszky.