This document summarizes traditional fishing crafts and gear used in India. It describes the main types of crafts used on the east and west coasts of India, including catamarans, masula boats, dinghies, and built-up boats. It also outlines the major net types like seine nets, drift nets, trawl nets, and hook-and-line techniques like hand lines, pole-and-lines, and long lines. The document provides detailed descriptions of fishing methods and how specific gears are constructed and operated to catch different types of fish.

1. FISH HARVESTING
Dr. J.PRAKASH SAHAYA LEON, M.Sc.,B.Ed.,M.Phil.,Ph.D.,
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR
GOVERNMENT ARTS COLLEGE FOR MEN
KRISHNAGIRI
TMAILNADU

2. FISH HARVESTING
FISHING CRAFTS
• fishing craft in use throughout the country are indigenous, non-mechanised
and locally built.
• The indigenous crafts have been designed to suit local conditions.
• On the east coast of India, the sea is rough and the coast is surf-beaten and
the landing places are very few; consequently the chief craft used are the
floating raft or the catamaran and the non-rigid masula boat.
• On the west coast, the sea is calm except during southwest monsoon
( when operations are almost suspended); as such small canoes and larger
rigid and strongly constructed boats are operated.

3. Crafts used along the east coast
1. Catamaran or floating rafts
• It is a keel less raft (propel ) formed by rigging (ropes ) together several
logs (wood) , which are curved and shaped, like a canoe.
• One end of the craft is shaped into a cone rising above the water
• The use of the catamaran or floating raft is restricted to the east coast from
Orissa to Cape comorin with a short extension northwards on the Kerala
coast.

4. Four types of catamaran are known.
• Orissa and Ganjam type: It is made up five logs ( wood) which are not
held together by rope but are pegged ( bolt) with wood. It is boat shaped.
• Andhra type: It is larger than the preceding type (5-7 m in length) and
made of heavy wood. Planks ( board or flat timber ) used in fitting the
sides

5. • Coromandal type: It is made up of 3-5 logs ( wood) with many variations in
pattern. It is most commonly used around Chennai. A specialised type is the seven
logged (wood) catamaran or Kolamaram used in the flying fish fishery of
Nagapatnam.
• Boat catamaran: It consists of three logs(wood) filled into a regular boat shape and
is used on the coast around Mandapam. Wide variations of this type are found in
Tuticorin, Cape Comorin and Colachel areas

6. 2.Masula boat
• It is constructed with planks (flat timber), sewn together with coir rope, but
without frames or ribs so as to withstand the severe knocking of the surfs.
• There are various patterns viz. bar boats in Orissa and Padava or padagu on the
Andhra coast.
• Masula boats are generally smaller, and boats upto 9 m in length, are also used.

7. 3.Dinghi and nauka
• These are carvel boats of Orissa and West Bengal and are built without
overlap of planks. Naukas which are well designed and constructed upto a
size of C 13 m
• 3 m x 2 m axe quit spacious and are used for a variety of purposes
including fishing operations.
Dinghi - a carvel boat of North Orissa

8. 4.Tuticorin boats
• These are also called as fishing luggers and it is a small vessel with a
square sail. They are carvel boats (C.ll m x 2 m lm). They are used to move
as mother ships and cargo boats than directly for fishing.

9. CRAFT USED ALONG THE WEST COAST
a. CANOES
• These are made from large logs(wood) of wood by scooping (dig or
hollow out)out the inner part. The keel portion being thicker than the sides.
These are mainly used between Colachel and Kathiawar coasts mainly on
Kerala and Kanara coast. The large dugouts (vanchi, odams) form the main
indigenous fishing crafts of the Malabar coast. They are 10-12 m long.

10. b. Plank built canoes
• These are dugouts, which are further enlarged with
planks(flat timber) on the sides. They are largely used in
Kerala for boat seine and other fishing. This type is also seen
in Kathiawar and North Mumbai.

11. c. Outrigger canoes
• Canoes with single outrigger are in use on the Kerala and Konkan coasts
and are called rampani boats .
• These are built-up-canoes with a narrow keel but the planks are more
spread out.
• These canoes are large upto 15 m x 3 m.

12. Built up boats
These boats are larger and strong. constructed indigenous boats
seen on the west coast, north of Ratnagiri and along to
Bombay-Cambay coast.
• Ratnagiri type : It has a pointed bow(curve), straight but
narrow keel (bottom) and low gunwale (upper edge of
shipside)

13. • Bassein type: It is locally called as machwa. It has a broad hull, pointed
bow(curve)
• Satpati type: It is popularly called a galbat. It has a medium, pointed bow
(curve), broad beam, straight keel and high gunwale (upper edge of
shipside).
• Broach type: It is flat bottomed and used in inshore and estuarine waters.
Built-up boats, particularly the Satpati types have become popular as they
can be mechanized without any alteration in design.

14. Mechanized boats
• Mechanized boats as dan boats, pablo boats, shrimp trawlers
(IB- Illugosen boat 30, STB- stern trawling boat 32)
• The horse power of smaller boats range from 10 to 60, the
larger boats are decked with trawling winches (pully or lifter)
and larger steel trawlers fitted with 90-600 HP engines and
refrigerated fish holds are operated by the big fishing
companies as well as by the Explotory Fisheries Projects of
Government of India (Fishery survey of India).

15. FISHING GEARS
• fishing gear used today may be grouped into the following categories.
• Nets (seines, tangle nets, trawls, gill nets etc)
• Hook and line techniques (handlines, longlines, troll), traps and barriers
(pots, weirs etc), fishing with animals (cormorants, otter etc), Wounding
gear (spears, harpoons, explosive etc), gear for gathering sessile animals
(shovels, tongs, rakes and dredges)

16. 1. NETS
• The small nets are generally made of cotton yarns while the bigger ones are
made of hemp or other special yarns (nylon).
• The nets are made by hand on cottage industry basis mostly by fisherman.
• In India, companies like Gareware are manufacturing nylon nets
Classification of nets
According to the mode of operation the traditional nets can be grouped into
the
following categories:
• Fixed or stationary nets
• Seine nets
• Cast nets or falling nets
• Scoop nets or skimming nets
• Drift nets or gill nets
• Trawl nets

17. A) Fixed or stationary nets
• These are mostly rectangular or conical in shape and of a wide variety of
sizes.
• These nets are fixed in the tidal regions of inshore waters during the low
tide
• The high tide brings the fish in the net and when the tide recedes the fishes
are trapped.
• Behundi or ghurni jal of West Bengal is fixed in such a way that the net
turns around the pole with the changes in the direction of the tide, enabling
operation at different times of the day. The fishes going against the current
are gilled in the net. A variety of species are captured by this method.

18. b) SEINE NETS
Seine nets with bag
• In general these nets are conical with wings and without
wings.
• Mesh usually increases in size from the back position
towards the outer flanks.
• Bag-nets with long tapering flanks are the thuri valai of
Chennai coast and the boat-seines of the Kerala coast.
• There are many variants of these nets with different names,
which are usually operated by two boats or catamarans.
• These nets are used
in waters where the
currentis strong and
high enough to keep
the net in a horizontal,
expanded position.

19. Seine nets without bag
• The other type includes the biggest shore seines used in India
viz. rampani of the Konkan and Malabar coasts.
Ramapani
• This is a bagless beach seine of splendid catching power.
• This net was introduced by about 1726 and was used
exclusively for mackerels and sardines.
• A Portuguese parish priest father Ramapari introduced this net
in south kanara region and hence is appropriately named after
him.
• It is a very large beach seine.
• Each net consists of about 400-600 pieces laced together. Each
piece measures 11m long and 7 m width.
• The head rope of the net is buoyed with wooden floats and
foot rope is weighed with stone sinkers at regular intervals.

20. • The net is operated only when a shoal of fish is noticed
coming close enough to warrant its operating.
• On each occasion, the net is carried, piled up in a small
boat leaving one end on the shore.
• The net is slowly dragged by a partly of 40 men on
each side and as the net approaches the shore, the 2
parties come closer and closer.
• The catch is finally brought ashore
• A complete set of this Rampani gear and craft, Shore
seine operation can be automated with the use of
pulleys, tractors, jeeps or animals.
• So that handling will be easy.

21. Purse seine
• This type of encircling nets is the most important type used to capture fish.
• Purse seine is the most advanced encircling net.
• It is like a wall or modified wall of net which is used to encircle a school of
fish.
• The purse seine is about 1200 ft long and 60-90 feet deep and is usually made
from synthetic webbing.
• Corks or buoys along the upper edge of the net keep it afloat and metal ring
weight along the bottom of the net helps to form a vertical wall in the water.
• A line that runs through rings on the lower edge of the net acts as a draw string
enabling the fisherman to close off or pouch or purse the bottom of the net, thus
trapping the fish in an inverted umbrella - shaped enclosure.
• The enclosed fish are then drawn to the vessel

22. Operation:
These are essentially two techniques used to set purse seines throughout
the world, namely two boat seining and one boat seining.
• Two in boat seining, two purse boats or seine boats are employed to carry
and set the gear. Each boat carries approximately one half of the net and
the boats run side by side until a school of fish is located. When the fish
have been located, the two boats begin setting their respective ends of the
net, running first in the opposite direction and subsequently forming a large
circle around the school of fish.
• The capacity of the carrier vessel varies from 125 to 500 tonnes.
• The number of fishes in a haul varies from 60,000 to 75,000.

23. One boat seining
• It is used to capture salmon, herring and tuna fishes.
• The net is carried aboard the main fishing vessel.
• A small auxiliary boat called skiff is used to facilitate the operation.
• When surrounding a school of fish, one end of the net is attached to the skiff.
• The larger vessel tow away paying out the net and encircles the fish.
• When the encircling operation has been completed, the net is pursed from the large
fishing vessel

24. Ring nets
• These are similar in principle to purse seines but are much
smaller.
• It is especially small
• Here also 2 vessels are used

25. c) Cast nets or falling nets
• These are universally used and are of two types, one with
string (rope) and the other without it.
• The net spreads out when thrown, trapping the fish. It is
always hand operated

26. d) Scoop nets or skimming nets
• Chinese dip nets in Cochin area belong to this type. These are
lowered into the water from frames.
• When the nets are lifted from the waters they skin the fishes.

27. e) Drift nets or gill nets
• These are wall like nets of various sizes
• Fishes are generally gilled in these nets.
• This consists of a series of rectangular, light weight nets joined end
to end to form a very long vertical curtain of netting which hangs
loosely in the water.
• The two edges of the curtain bears cork floats, the lower edge is
weighted by a heavy rope, the messenger, by which the net is
attached to the vessel.

28. • Drift nets are shot shortly before darkness.
• During darkness, shoals of fish ascend into the surface layers, and became
entangled as they attempt to swim through the net.
• The mesh size is selected so that the head of the fish passes easily through the
net but the larger middle part of the body will not go through.
• When the fish try to wriggle out backwards, the net catches behind the gill-
covers, so that the fish are unable to escape.
• This method of capture is fairly selective, retaining only fish within a particular
range of sizes.
• Smaller fish can swim right through, while larger fish may not pass sufficiently
far into the mesh for the net to slip behind the gill-covers.
• As the net is coming in, the fishes are shaken out.

29. F. Trawl nets
• Trawling is the most important fishing method used to harvest fishes
which normally five near the seabed.
• The length of trawl net is 31 m
• The trawl is a conical shaped net which has a wide mouth and tapers to
a sock-like end which is referred to as the cod end.
• Trawls may be subdivided into several categories depending on the
method used to spread the net.
• The two important types are (i) Beam trawl (ii) Otter trawl

30. (i)Beam trawl
• Beam trawls have been in use for several years. It is little used
in modern commercial fisheries. It is a tapering bag of netting,
which can be towed over the seabed.

31. (ii) Otter trawl
• This is much larger, more efficient and can be more easily handled .
The sides of the bag are extended outwards by the addition of wings
of netting attached to large, rectangular wooden otter boards. The
otter boards are towed by a pair of very strong steel cables, the
warps, which are attached to the otter boards in such a way that the
pressure of water causes the otter boards to diverge as they move,
pulling the mouth of the net wide open horizontally. The under
edges of the otter boards slide over the sea-bed and are shod with
steel for protection. The head rope bears numerous hollow metal
floats which keep it a few feet above the bottom. The foot rope is
considerably longer and trail several feet behind the head rope during
trawling.

32. Bull trawling or two boat trawling
• It is another method to tow large trawls. It has been replaced by single boat
otter trawling.
Mid- water trawling
• Surface or pelagic trawling and mid-water trawling are other types of
trawls being used on the same principle.

33. 2. Hook and line techniques
• Hook and line methods are used throughout the world. It is operated in places
where the sea bottom is too deep or too rough to be suitable for trawling. line
fishing vessels are called as liners. The fishing gear comprises a very long
length of strong line bearing at intervals numerous shot lengths of lighter line
the snoods (band of ribbon) which carry the baited hooks . A long line may be
nearly a mile in length, and a single vessel may shoot sometimes as many as 30
lines, carrying many thousands of hooks. Each line is left on the sea bottom
for a few hours before hauling. As the line is brought aboard, the fish are
removed from the hooks and the line carefully coiled for use again.

34. Categories of hook and line
• Hook and line fishing can be divided into four categories are hand line, Pole and
lines, troll-line fishing and long lines or net lines
Hand line
• It consists of a single line, sinker and perhaps several hooks
Pole and fines
• Basic gear for pole and line fishing of tuna consists of short bamboo poles ranging
from 7 to 17 feet in length and fishing line composed of several sections.
Troll-line fishing
• Simple trolling may be conducted by one line. However in modern trawling, as
many lines as possible are used. During fishing, the vessel moves forward slowly,
(the speed dependent on the fish sought) giving action to the lures.
Long fines or set fines
• In the more advanced line fisheries, long lines are used. Long lines may be fished
at the bottom, at intermediate depths or near the surface. It is now hauled
mechanically.

35. 3. Traps and barrier
• A wide variety of traps and pots is used to capture demersal fishes.
Capture generally depends upon attracting fish or shell fish to pots. Pots
are used in shrimp, lobster and crab fisheries. Pots are also used to catch
fishes also (eel, seabass). The most common pot used is circular in shape
has a metal frame, and is covered with a wire mesh. The lower flat portion
is weighted so that when dropped into the water it will come to rest on the
bottom.

36. 4. Fishing with animals
• The Japanese and Chinese have used this method for centuries. The wings of
birds which are trained from infancy are clipped and a ring placed around the
lower end of the necks. The rings prevent the cormorant from swallowing
larger fish which are retrieved by the trainer. A single fisherman may use from
6-12 cormorants.
• A unique use of sucker fish (Remora) to capture sea turtles is still practised in
tropical seas. It has a specialised sucker like organ which is a modification of
the first dorsal fin. By means of the sucker, it attaches to fish or sea turtles.
When employed for fishing, the remora is tied to a fine and taken to an area
where turtles have been detected. The fish is then cast into the sea in the
general direction of the reptile. The Remora swims to the turtle and attaches
itself. The fisherman, through use of the line, then plays the turtle until it tires
and can be retrieved

37. 5. Wounding gear (Whale harpoon)
• Since 1864 the harpoon method is used to catch whales. Mounted on a platform is a
harpoon gun with a bore diameter of 90 mm. This fires a harpoon of 1.85 m long,
75 kg of weight. The head of harpoon consists of an explosive grenade of about 40
cm length. The grenade contains about 1 kg of black powder; fused to explode 3
seconds after the harpoon is lodged in the whale body. Attached to a harpoon is a
forerunner or nylon rope 100-120 m long coiled in a tray kept in front of the gun. It
flies out with the harpoon when gun is shot. The forerunner is connected with the
whale line. The whale line runs to the accumulator on the mast round the Winch
and then down to the hold. Total line is about 1000 m and each catcher has 2 sets.
There is a shock absorber installed on the bottom of the ship below the mast. The
harpoon kills the quary quickly, but the gun is reloaded without delay and second
harpoon is fired when the whale is not killed by the first.

38. 6. Gear for gathering sessile animals
• Included in this category are the many techniques employed to
harvest marine animals such as oysters, clams and sponges.
The simple devices include shovels, tongs and rakes.

39. 7. Special capture methods
• There are a number of fishing techniques which rely on
physical chemical stimuli such as light, electricity and air
bubbles. Of these, lights are by for the most important. Lights
are used in a wide variety of fisheries to attract fish into traps

40. Fish detection
Fish aggregating devices (FADS)
• Tree FADS" - tree trunks or branches dropped into the
deep so that they attract and aggregate fish for capture
by appropriate nets- are widely known in Tamil Nadu.
Other anchored FADS (used for tunas)
• Attraction of pelagic fishes including tunas to floating
objects has been documented well. In Philippines,
commercial harvesting of tunas from around tuna
attracting "payaos' has been reported. Tuna fisherman
to concentrate schools of tunas has used anchored
floating bamboo rafts for many years here. Aggregated
tunas were traditionally caught by hook and lines.
Recently purse seining has been introduced.

41. SOURCES
• AQUACULTURE – T.V. PILLAI
• TEXT BOOK OF AQUACULTURE –
R. SANTHANAM
• WEB MATERIALS