This document discusses methods of prawn fishing. It describes the different species of prawns caught along the Indian shore and the various crafts and gear used to catch them. It then focuses on freshwater prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii, detailing its taxonomy. The ideal seasons for prawn fishing are provided for different coastal regions of India. The main methods discussed are batch and continuous pond culture techniques, curl and drain harvesting from ponds, and the use of various nets, traps, hooks, and fishing crafts.

1. METHODS OF PRAWN FISHING
Balwant Singh M.Sc. (AAS)
Anamika Verma M.Sc. (AAS)
By

2. INTRODUCTION
Several species of prawns are caught from the
Indian shore. These are Palaemon spp., Peneus
indicus, p.monodon,P.carinatus, Metapeneus
monoceros ,M. dobsoni ,M.brevicornis ,M.affinis,
Parapeneopsis harwickii, Macrobrachium
malcomsonii,M.mirabilis,M.carcinus,
M.javanicum etc.various kinds of crafts and gear
are for capturing prawn .

3. Classification of fresh water prawn
Macrobrachium rosenbergii
Kingdom : Animalia
Phylum : Arthropoda
Subphylum : Crustacea
Class : Malacostraca
Order : Decapoda
Sub-order : Pleocyemata
Superfamily : Palaemonoidea
Family : Palaemonidae
Subfamily : Palaemoninae
Genus : Macrobrachium
Species : rosenbergii

4. IDEAL SEASION FOR FISHING
• The methods employed for fishing prawns are some
what similar to that of the fishes. Prawn fishery is
seasonal. The ideal season for fishing at Bombay coast
is from August to October and in Saurashtra it is from
July to September.
• On the eastern coast, it starts from monsoon and
extends up to March-April. Fishing is done throughout
the year in the backwaters of Kerala. Different lakes
have different fishing seasons. In fresh water, it
extends from March to June-July.

5. METHODS OF PRAWN FISHING
There are two extreme methods of managing of fresh
water prawn pond.
• 1. Batch culture technique .
• 2. Continuous culture technique.
• 3. Curl harvesting .
• 4. Drain harvesting .
BATCH CULTURE TECHNIQUE
It is to stop the pond allow the animals to grow un till the
average market size is achived or the pond has to be
drained for other reasons and them harvest the old crop.

6. Continuous culture technique
Stoking the ponds usually once a years at much
higher density than with batch culture.
 In this technique the ponds are never drained and
market sized animals are removed by seining.
CURL HARVESTING
In this technique a seine net is pulled through thye
pond to remove harvest seine animals from a
continuous operated pond .Care must be taken to
ensure that the bottom of the seine is kept on
bottom or many prawn will escape beneth it
The seine dose not get overloaded when whole
pond is been seine is to drop two seine across the
middle of the pond . CONT………….

7. One seine is drawn to one end and harvested.
The second one is pulled to the oposite end of
the pond .
Pond which are to wide to harvested by pulling
each end of seine down the long sides of the
ponds can also be seine but less efficiently so .
The seine it operation has to be repeated and
several time keeping one end stationary and
pulling the other end in the semi-circular
function .seined prawn should be quickly
transffered to a holding tank or net from which
they can the sorted .

8. DRAIN HARVESTING
• If the pond has a monk or sluice skate
structure for drainage .
• It is possible to included a harvesting stump
some in front of the there the gate or even
content with in it.

9. Several types of nets, traps and hooks are used for
catching prawns. These are cast net, boat net ,
shore seine , scoop net, drift net , trawl net etc.
Various types of traps with baits are used to catch
prawns . The nets are made up of cotton ,nylon ,and
are further strengthened by using coir ropes. The
simplest of the nets is the cast net operated by one
man only. Bag like nets operated from a moving
are called drag net or trawl net.
CONT……..
TYPES OF NETS

10. Gill nets are large sized nets that remain hanging in
water, and the prawns get entangled by operculum
or spiny surface of body and appendages. Gill net
that are allowed to drift are called drift nets. Small
nets and several other devices like trapping of
prawns by clothes by making small fences are being
used in paddy fields which are also used for this
purpose.
The crafts used for prawn fishing are the same as
that used for the collection of fishes.

11. HOOKS AND LINE
Hook’s & Line’s

12. Cast Net

13. Drag net
 Drag net are used in a large skills in fishing.
 Quality of Prawn Drag Net
 UV Treated Polyethylene Green Netting - 30mm Mesh Size
7mm Polyethylene orange/Black trap rope top and bottom
Y3 floats
Well weights lead line with Split Net Leads.
Long pocket with lead snapper weight at end of pocket
Legal Size - 6m Wide.
 Top of the range net for maximum cat.
Drag net are categorized in two types -:
1) Gill Net
2) Drift Net

14. Different types of Gill Net
1) Floating Gill Net 2) Bottom Gill Net

15. DRIFT NET
• Large floating nets
• Unbreakable and invisible to
most sea species
• likely to rectangle large pelagic
species : dolphins, whales,
sharks, turtles, and rays.
• Drift nets have earned the nick
name “walls of death”.
• These nets which are not
anchored.