Musing on Morro Bay, a Fishing Village

We're so lucky to have an active fishing village as exotic as Portofino...so many peculiar boats. One man lives on one with a cat and dog. Three local boats are manned by Chinese who can be seen with chop sticks eating their prepared rice and hot wok dish. Other days they bait hooks for line fishing and then are gone overnight bringing back thousands of rockfish.

On the other hand the dark side of over-fishing to satisfy our need to eat is evident. Since salmon are in short supply and have been restricted, hagfish, known as slime eels, are now caught en masse. One boat brought in 900 pounds of these bottom feeders that have no appeal to Americans. They are shipped live to Korea, considered a delicacy there. I'm both fascinated and appalled to watch close up.

A seagull prepares to snatch an eel.