Horses and shrimp are natural enemies

Keeping in line with yesterday's tree goat post, I'm going to extend the theme of "things that sound like they are made up, but are actually real, and awesome".

I am a fan of eccentric and/or dying trades. There's something neat about choosing to specialize in a skill that most people have forgotten about. The obvious examples of these trades are things like glassblowers, blacksmiths, mechanical watch repairmen, and candlestick makers (butchers and bakers appear to be safe for now). Some trades, though, are eccentric and rare even by the standards of the eccentric trades.

Take Belgium's horseback shrimp fisherman, for example. These tradespeople, of whom there are less than 12 left in the world, ride their horses through the North Sea dragging specially designed traps behind them to catch the shrimp that live near shore.

The trade itself is bizarre, but I'm even more entertained by the traditional use of the shrimp: fertilizer. I'm mystified as to how the whole arrangement managed to get started.

"Hey Steve, I hear there are shrimp near the shore in the North Sea, we should go catch them"

"Sounds like a plan. Should we use boats, like almost every other fishing civilizaton on the planet?"

"Nah, I was thinking horses."

"Sounds good, let's go."

...

"Well, shockingly enough, that worked. We now have big baskets full of shrimp! Let's cook 'em up and have dinner."

"No, rather than eating the shrimp directly, how about we grind them up and throw them on the ground? Maybe it will provide us with slightly increased crop yields several months from now."

"Sure, why not?"

And thus, Belgian horseback shrimp fishing was born.