Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Prostitution and Taiwan Fisherman

The Asian Sex Gazette, a serious blog despite its provocative title, has a great article on sex on the high seas, originally from Greenpeace
The deck of the Taiwanese purse-seiner bustles with activity. At anchor a few kilometres off Tarawa in Kiribati, tons of skipjack tuna are lifted from a refrigerated hold up onto the sweltering topdeck for transhipment to a ship moored beside it. Whistles blow, nets of shimmering fish are raised and swung onto the mothership, which will take its cargo to canneries in Papua New Guinea and Taiwan.

But look closer and another small transhipment is also taking place between the two rolling boats. A young girl is gingerly easing herself down thick ropes from the mothership onto the purse-seiner. It is a delicate balancing act 20 metres above water and for a moment she looks like a trapeze artist, walking the tightrope. She smiles at one of the Taiwanese crew as she drops like a cat onto the deck and disappears into a nearby cabin. Here in Kiribati she is known as a "korakorea" girl; a girl who spends time with fishermen.

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