Secret weapon for Cuban fishermen: condoms

Nov 16, 2016

Secret weapon for Cuban fishermen: condoms

Matt Bracken 0 Comment The Baltimore Sun Cuba, fishing, Havana

Few are as creative as what Havana’s fishermen call “balloon fishing,” a technique employing a couple of cents worth of condoms to pull fish worth an average month’s salary from the ocean.

: In this Nov. 11, 2016 photo, people fish off Chivo beach in Havana, Cuba. Cuba has been renowned for its fishing at least since the days of Ernest Hemingway, and foreigners by the thousands come each year to fish in waters largely protected by Cuba’s lack of development. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

: In this Nov. 11, 2016 photo, a fisherman baits his line with a sardine, along the malecon seawall in Havana, Cuba. Cuba has been renowned for its fishing at least since the days of Ernest Hemingway, and foreigners by the thousands come each year to fish in waters largely protected by Cuba’s lack of development. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

: In this Nov. 11, 2016 photo, young fishermen pull their rafts made out of foam as they head to sea from Chivo Beach in Havana, Cuba. Many Cubans have taken to riding out on blocks of industrial foam to catch larger fish, but the unsafe technique known as “cork fishing,” has become the target of frequent coast guard crackdowns with steep fines. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

: This Nov. 12, 2016 photo shows Derek Aguiar Gonzalez, a stomatology student and amateur fisherman who said he takes home what he catches, preparing to cast his line, fitted with inflated condoms that serve to keep the bait high in the water and increase the line’s resistance against the pull of heavy fish, at the malecon seawall in Havana, Cuba. Few are as creative as what Havana’s fishermen call “balloon fishing,” a technique employing a couple of cents worth of condoms to pull fish worth an average month’s salary from the ocean. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

: In this Nov. 11, 2016 photo, young fishermen float on foam rafts to fish for bait off Chivo beach in Havana, Cuba. Many Cubans have taken to riding out on inner tubes or blocks of industrial foam to catch larger fish, but the unsafe technique known as “cork fishing,” has become the target of frequent coast guard crackdowns with steep fines. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

: In this Nov. 13, 2016 photo, a man prepares his fishing gear on the malecon seawall in Havana, Cuba. Much of Cuba’s coastline remains free of the large-scale building that has damaged ecosystems in the rest of the Caribbean. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

: In this Nov. 13, 2016 photo, mechanic Junior Torres Lopez casts his fishing rod prepared with condoms, known as “balloon fishing,” along the Malecon seawall in Havana, Cuba. When the contraceptives are the size of balloons, fishermen tie them together by their ends, attach them to the end of a baited fishing line and set them floating on the tide until they reach the end of the line, as far out as 900-feet. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

: In this Nov. 11, 2016 photo, a fisherman floats on his raft made out of a tire inner tube, off Chivo beach in Havana, Cuba. Many Cubans have taken to riding out on inner tubes to catch larger fish, but the unsafe technique known as “cork fishing,” has become the target of frequent coast guard crackdowns with steep fines. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

: In this Nov. 13, 2016 photo, Edelmis Ferro Solano, far left, holds inflated condoms for her husband Junior Torres Lopez, standing behind her, to use on his fishing line as a bobber, while her granddaughter Leyanis Macias Puente helps out by shining a flashlight on the hook of family friend Fran Luis Martinez Nueva, as they fish along the malecon seawall in Havana, Cuba. According to the fishermen’s lore, the inventor of the balloon technique in Cuba saw a video of South Africans fishing using kites and got the idea for using inflated condoms. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

: In this Nov. 13, 2016 photo, mechanic Junior Torres Lopez ties inflated condoms together for his fishing line to keep his bait high in the water and increase his line’s resistance against the pull of heavy fish, as his wife Edelmis Ferro Solano sits nearby along the malecon sea wall, at sunset in Havana, Cuba. Dozens of men can be found “balloon fishing” along the Havana seawall at night, using their homemade floats to carry their lines as far as 900 feet into the coastal waters. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

: In this Nov. 10, 2016 photo, a diver catches his breath over the fish he just caught, along the malecon seawall in Havana, Cuba. For Cubans, taking advantage of the fishing in water largely protected by Cuba’s lack of development remains a challenge. For all but the wealthiest, even the smallest private boats and the fuel for them are too expensive. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

: In this Nov. 10, 2016 photo, a fisherman in a diver suit carries his day’s catch, near the lighthouse in Havana, Cuba. While most Cubans can’t afford to buy fish, Cuba’s private restaurants, its growing upper-middle-class and the thousands of foreigners who live in the capital all are avid buyers. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

: In this Nov. 11, 2016 photo, fishermen throw their fishing rods from Chivo beach as the sun sets in Havana, Cuba. Cuba has been renowned for its fishing at least since the days of Ernest Hemingway, and foreigners by the thousands come each year to fish in waters largely protected by Cuba’s lack of development. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

: In this Nov. 11, 2016 photo, fishermen stand in the water as a man on a foam raft fishes for bait, off Chivo beach in Havana, Cuba. Cuba has been renowned for its fishing at least since the days of Ernest Hemingway, and foreigners by the thousands come each year to fish in waters largely protected by Cuba’s lack of development. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

: In this Nov. 11, 2016 photo, people fish on Chivo beach as the sun sets in Havana, Cuba. Much of Cuba’s coastline remains free of the large-scale building that has damaged ecosystems in the rest of the Caribbean, and the island’s industrial fishing fleet was devastated by the fall of the Soviet Union. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

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