Condoms are the world’s most popular birth control product, but in Cuba, condoms are used for something we never think about. It is used for fishing!!!!
This particular fishing technique is known as "baloon fishing ", for catching expensive ocean fish that they would not otherwise be able to reach.
In Cuba there is strict controls who can own and use boats, “balloon fishing” has become a very cheap and effective way of catching fish like red snapper, barracuda and tarpon without having to leave the shore. The secret to this unusual fishing technique – latex condoms.
The Technique-Fisherman along the Havana seawall use inflated condoms to create homemade floats that carry their lines as far as 900 feet into the ocean and keep the bait high in the water. As soon as they hit the surface of the water, the strong current starts pulling it out to sea, far beyond casting distance, and when a fish takes the bait, the line pulls free, and all fishermen have to do is reel it in. It’s a very simplistic yet surprisingly effective fishing method that puts food on the table for hundreds of Cubans.
Balloon fishing is so popular in Cuba that condom sales at Government-run pharmaceutical shops surge during peak fishing periods. With just a few cents-worth of condoms, fishermen can build dozens of floats to catch fish worth $10 to $20 on Havana’s black market. In a country where the average monthly salary is around $25, that’s a pretty big deal!!!
