
With just a bird, a gas lamp and a net, each morning, fisherman in China keep a special, thousand year old tradition alive.

Sailing peacefully across a river, the men fish without the aid of a rod with this unusual method, which was first practiced in 960 AD.

The men, pictured in southern China, release a cormorant bird, which then dives into the water and retrieves a carp, returning it to the fisherman's reed raft.

With just a bird, a gas lamp and a net, each morning, fishermen in China keep a special, thousand year old tradition alive

The stunning images were captured on the River Li in Guilin, China, by a Russian photographer called Viktoriia Rogotneva.

The 45-year-old, from St Petersburg, was captivated upon visiting the fishermen in the town.

'Every fishermen has a reed raft, a few trained cormorants and a small source of light - usually a kerosene lamp,' he said.

'In the morning the fishermen go to the river and let the cormorants go. The birds are very hungry and dive into the water to catch big carp.'

Sailing peacefully across the river, the men men fish without the aid of a rod with this unusual method, first practiced in 960 AD

A man releases a cormorant bird, which then dives into the water and retrieves a carp, returning it to the fisherman's reed raft

The fishermen quite literally just take the carp right out of the bird's mouth after the hungry animals return with their haul

These breathtaking early morning images were captured by 45-year-old Viktoriaa Rogotneva from St Petersburg, Russia

'The cormorants then return to the surface of the water, and the fishermen take the fish right out the bird's beak,' Rogotneva added.

The elderly fishermen of Guiliin spend between two and three hours on the lake each every morning, and while cormorant fishing only produces about 4kg of carp per day, the men are determined to keep this special practice alive.

To control the birds, the fishermen tie a ring near the base of the bird's throat, which prevents them from swallowing any large fish, but allows them to eat smaller fish with no discomfort.

The images were all shot on the River Li in Guilin, China, which is in the southern part of the country

Heading out in the dawn's light, each man is equipped only with a reed raft, a few trained cormorants and a small kerosene light source

The elderly fishermen spend anywhere between two to three hours per day on the lake, despite the low yields from cormorant fishing

On average, the men will only produce about 4kg of carp per day, but are still determined to keep this beautiful practice alive =

This fishermen bring up the birds from when they are tiny chicks, so the cormorant is more of a pet than a hunter

This way of fishing is 'absolutely ecologically safe,' says Rogotneva, who insists that the fishermen catch only as much as they need

Rogotneva said: 'These fishermen bring up their birds from when they are very small chicks, so you can almost call the cormorant a pet, like you would a dog.

'It is an absolutely ecologically safe way of fishing. Every fisherman just catches as much as he needs for his family and they are never greedy.