On some fishing boats, bananas are considered bad luck—most often because they are said to bring poor catches, though some maritime traditions connect them with mishaps or even a lost ship. The taboo is documented folklore, not proof that bananas cause trouble. Its exact origin is unknown, and one small freshwater experiment found mixed results rather than a general answer for fishing boats.
What does the no-bananas rule mean?
The usual rule is simple: do not bring bananas aboard. The feared result varies by crew and tradition. Fishing-focused accounts commonly associate bananas with poor catches or bad luck; the New Zealand Maritime Museum also records a sailing belief that bananas could be an omen of a ship being lost.
The custom is not universal. An account preserved by the USC Digital Folklore Archives describes one fisher learning the rule from a mentor and continuing to follow it. That is evidence of an individual occupational tradition, not a measure of how many fishers observe the taboo.
Maritime beliefs often attach meaning to particular objects, words, days, or actions. The Library of Congress American Folklife Center notes that origins can be forgotten even as a custom persists, and that people may tell stories to explain a belief or make sense of an event that seems to confirm it. That context helps explain how a taboo can matter to a crew without establishing that the object causes the feared outcome.
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Why are bananas considered bad luck on a fishing boat?
No single origin is verified by the sources available. Several explanations circulate, but they should be treated as theories rather than established history:
- Fast-moving cargo: A 2011 student article recounts the idea that banana cargo had to reach port quickly, leaving crews less time to fish.
- Spoilage: Another proposed explanation is that fruit spoiled and damaged other provisions.
- Pests: Some accounts suggest pests traveled with fruit cargo. A 2019 fishing-organization article also repeats ideas about pests and spoiled supplies.
- Wreck-related stories: The same popular explanations include tales of floating bananas being seen near wreck sites. That does not establish that bananas caused shipwrecks.
These stories may help people narrate or reinforce a superstition, but they are not verified evidence that bananas historically caused wrecks, poisoned crews, attracted fatal pests, or prevented fishing. The Library of Congress’s broader account of maritime folklore is a useful reminder that a plausible origin story is not the same as documented provenance.
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Do bananas bring bad luck to a fishing vessel? What did the experiment find?
Chelsey A. Campbell’s 2011 Lakeline article, “Do Bananas Bring Bad Luck to a Fishing Vessel?”, describes a small experiment at Watson’s Pond, a stocked freshwater site associated with the University of Florida Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences Program in Gainesville. In November 2010, two anglers fished from kayaks in short alternating treatments. One cooler contained four bananas; a comparison cooler held water bottles intended to mimic the bananas’ weight. The fishers were not told which cooler contained bananas.
The reported comparisons did not show statistically significant differences in bait lost, fish lost, or the size of bluegill or catfish. The number of fish landed did differ: the control treatment produced more fish in five of the six treatment blocks. Campbell cautioned that the sample was small, few fish were landed, and the result did not establish why the counts differed.
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| Measure reported by Campbell | Reported p-value | What the article reports |
|---|---|---|
| Bait lost | 0.102 | No statistically significant difference |
| Fish lost | 0.2324 | No statistically significant difference |
| Bluegill size | 0.2969 | No statistically significant difference |
| Catfish size | 0.357 | No statistically significant difference |
| Number of fish landed | 0.02915 | A statistically significant difference; the control treatment produced more fish in five of six blocks |
These are results from Campbell’s particular experiment, not universal estimates of fishing success. As Campbell put it, “This study cannot conclude that bananas are the cause of the lowered fishing success, however, simply that there is a correlation.”
Can the study tell you what will happen offshore or on a commercial boat?
No. The experiment involved a small number of anglers, short treatments, kayaks, and freshwater fishing at one stocked pond. It did not test offshore fishing, commercial vessels, long voyages, or maritime accidents. Its mixed findings neither prove the superstition nor settle how bananas relate to catches in other settings.
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What happens if you bring a banana on a boat?
There is no evidence here that carrying a banana causes an accident or changes a boat’s safety. What happens in practice depends on the crew: some may treat the taboo as a serious custom, while others may not follow it. If you are joining a boat, asking the skipper or crew about their rules is the practical way to avoid disregarding a tradition that matters to them.
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