The government allows the gondolier to act as dock hand when he becomes too old to handle the oars. Photo by Gribayedoff. "... he becomes a granchaio., which is to say a 'crab catcher.' At the landing-steps, armed with a hooked pole, he waits to bring in or shove out the gondola. The Venetian gives him a quarter of a cent by way of a fee. Outlanders tip him more abundantly." Source: Outing magazine, vol. LI no. 6, March, 1908, p. 654.