FISHING GEAR TECHNOLOGY

DR. NAVEEN KUMAR VATE

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR
SCHOOL OF FISHERIES
CENTURION UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT
PARALAKHEMUNDI, ODISHA
2 CRAFT
3 INTRODUCTION

• Fishing – Art of catching fish and other aquatic animals

• Fishing gear – Implements/tools used for catching fish
• Fishing craft – Working platform used to reach the fishing ground and conduct fishing
operation
• Fishing method – Manner or method in which fish may be captured
• Fishing Technique – Operations involving fishing gear combined with fishing method
• Fishing Technology – A discipline which deals with the techniques of fish capture
4 FISHING TECHNOLOGY & ART OF FISHING

• Direct means of capture – Fishing Gear, Fishing Vessel/Craft

• Indirect means of fishing – Fish locating technology
- Technology involve in the application of Fisheries
Oceanography and Limnology
ART OF FISHING
• Subsistence fishing – Fishing practiced by fishermen to earn livelihood
• Sports fishing – Fishing for sports and recreation
• Commercial fishing – Fishing for profit and business
5 EVOLUTION OF FISHING GEAR

• Past – Simple fishing gears – caught singly

• Over the year – More efficient fishing gear developed to catch the fish
in bulk
• Several factors contributed to the development of sophisticated fishing
gears
• Bulk fishing catching methods developed due to demand
6 HISTORY

• Fishing is opined that it is younger than hunting as it is easy to catch terrestrial

animals than those in the water
• In olden days fishing was not having much importance as there was no demand for fish
• Earlier fishing was restricted to a particular community but it is not so now
• In order to meet the increased demand, fishing is now carried out industrially
• Fishing technology not only concerns fishing gear, fishing methods and vessels but also
concern Biological and Environmental factors
7 HISTORY

• Fishing technology has developed continuously by utilizing improved and larger fishing
vessels, more sophisticated fishing equipment and preservation techniques
• With the increase in population, larger quantities of seafoods became necessary
hence individual harvesting was replaced by groups fishing with larger and more
effective fishing gear
• Mechanization started in the fishing industry during the second half of the nineteenth
century with the use of steam driven capstans
• Steam power was successfully used in towing a trawl for the first time in 1877
8 HISTORY

• Steam gradually replaced manual and sail propulsion

• This was later superseded by the internal combustion engines
• Today, the diesel engine is universally favored for larger vessels and petrol/kerosene
driven outboards for small boat operations
• Development of electrical and hydraulic power systems led to complete
mechanization of fishing which use larger nets and lines, or more pots and traps
• During the last 50 years, synthetic fibers, which are virtually rot-proof, gradually
replaced natural materials in the fabrication of nets and lines
9 HISTORY

• These materials have greatly extended the useful life of fishing gear.
• This along with the introduction of mechanized net and rope making increased the
size and complexity of nets.
• Developments in new synthetic materials and fabrication techniques are
continuously improving fishing gear effectiveness and efficiency.
• Traditionally fishermen detect fish through local knowledge, record keeping,
observation of schools breaking to surface, and the behavior of birds and other
sea creatures.
10 HISTORY

• In deeper waters fishes were detected from the vibration of signal lines dropped
from the vessel
• The introduction of electronic fish finding equipment a half century ago has
revolutionized the process of finding fish to catch
• Aircraft enable much greater areas to be searched visually, while satellite and laser
technology are being utilized as aids for identifying suitable environmental conditions
• Fish finding sonar and echo sounders rapidly analyze signals from high performance
transducers and display detailed information to the fisherman.
11 EVOLUTION OF FISHING GEARS

• Before the invention of any fishing gear, men used their hands (hand picking) to catch
fish and other aquatic organisms from the shallow water lakes, rivers and seas
• However, it was only possible to collect sedentary, stranded slowly moving
organisms by hand picking
• To prevent the escape of fish, methods were developed to stun and stupefy the fish
either mechanically or electrically
• The capacity to capture live fish or the stupefied ones was limited by the length of the
arm
12 EVOLUTION OF FISHING GEARS

• To overcome this problem and to extend the range of the fisherman, spears or lances
were developed
• The reach of spears pushed by hand can be extended by using them as a casting gear.
• To prevent the fish from escaping the thrown gear, facilities for retrieving the catch are
necessary which is characteristic of harpooning.
13 EVOLUTION OF FISHING GEARS

• The use of spears for catching fish implicates some injury to the prey
• To catch delicate organisms without causing damage, a number of grasping
instruments have been developed. Eg. clamps, tongs, rakes etc
• These gears like the spearing and shooting gear have been developed to extend
the range of the human arm and to secure the catch more efficiently
• Luring the fish with a bait and catching them led to the development of line fishing
• The bait is presented in such a manner that the fish is neither able to take away the
bait nor it can escape once it takes the bait
14 EVOLUTION OF FISHING GEARS

• Various types of fishing lines have developed

• The simplest form of fishing line is the hand line.
• The number of hand lines operated by a single man is limited.
• In order to operate more lines, set lines have been developed.
• From simple fishing lines capable of catching a single fish, long lines with
thousands of hooks which extend to considerable length have been developed.
• The need to operate over a larger area using a movable fishing line led to the
development of trolling lines.
15 EVOLUTION OF FISHING GEARS

• Fishing with primitive gear is confined to shallow water areas.

• Permanent and semi permanent and barriers were erected in the areas with
changing water level for catching fish.
• This is practiced in the areas of fresh waters and the ebb and flow areas along
the sea coast.
• The barriers prevent fish from escaping when the water recedes.
• This was the beginning of filtering fishing gear.
16 EVOLUTION OF FISHING GEARS

• After the invention of net making, netting made of fibers of different origin were
used for gear construction.
• First, fishing gear was made of wooden material like sticks and flexible
branches.
• There was a transition from wooden material to netting material in the
construction of traps and barriers and bag nets.
• The bag nets are held open by means of a frame.
• Scoop nets, scrape nets and gape nets come under this category.
17 EVOLUTION OF FISHING GEARS

• From the primitive rake, the development lead to the creation of the dredge.
• From the dredge first the dragged stow net and the trawl was developed.
• Trawling can be considered as further development of dredges.
• The desire to operate on wider areas and to catch more fish than was permitted
by the maximum length of the frames of dredges led to the development of
towing gear like trawls.
• With the advent of fish detecting devices and other electronic equipments,
mid water trawls were developed to catch pelagic species.
18 EVOLUTION OF FISHING GEARS

• Seine nets without bags have evolved from a net wall, while the seines with a
bag developed from a bag net like stow nets.
• The desire to catch the shoaling fishes without allowing them to escape led to
the evolution of surrounding nets.
• These gears are designed in such a way that they surround the fish shoal from
below as well as sides to prevent their escape in any direction e.g. purse
seines.
• On the same principle as scoop nets another type of gear called lift nets were
developed which are dipped in water and then lifted as soon as the fish have
gathered over them.
19 EVOLUTION OF FISHING GEARS

• The lift nets made of netting had their predecessors made of twigs and bast.
• Contrary to the lift nets, certain gears called falling gears secure their catch from
above.
• Gears have been developed to catch high individual value fish without causing
damage to them using the principle of gilling e.g. gill nets.
• Idea of catching fish by entangling them in water plants in earlier days led to the
development of present day entangling nets like single, double, or triple walled
(trammel) tangle nets.
20 CLASSIFICATION OF FISHING GEARS OF
WORLD
• Von Brandt classified fishing gears based on these principles of capture
• Without gear – This includes hand picking, fishing with feet, simple tools for catching
fish etc.
• Grappling and wounding gear – In this method, the fish are caught by grappling,
squeezing, piercing, transfixing or wounding. The implements used for this are
spears, clamps, tongs, rakes, harpoons etc
• Stupefying devices – they prevent fish from escaping by stupefying or stunning. This
is done either by mechanical, chemical or by electrical stupefying
• Lines – In lines, the fish is offered a bait which once taken makes them unable to
escape.
21 CLASSIFICATION OF FISHING GEARS OF
WORLD
• Traps – A fish enters the trap voluntarily but is prevented from coming out by means
of certain arrangements.
• Fishing in the air – Aerial traps – Fish that jump out of the water when faced with an
obstacle are caught in the air by special devices.
• Bag nets – These are kept open vertically by the frame and horizontally by the
current. Fish enter voluntarily and are caught by filtering.
• Dragged gear – These gears are towed through the water either on or near the
bottom or on the surface and manner of capture is by filtration
• Seine nets – gears with long wings and towing warps with or without bags. The
manner of capture is by surrounding a certain area and towing the both ends of the
gear to a fixed point on the shore or on a vessel.
22 CLASSIFICATION OF FISHING GEARS OF
WORLD
• Surrounding nets – Nets that surround a shoal of fish not only from the sides but
also from the bottom.
• Drive-in-nets –The fish to be caught are driven into the gear by swimming or diving
fishermen.
• Lift nets –Sheets of netting are lowered into the water and lifted when the fish swim
or creep on to them.
• Falling Gear – The manner of capture is to cover the fish with a gear and are
normally operated in shallow waters
• Gill nets – Principle of gilling is made use of in gill nets. Fishes are caught by their
gills (gilling) in the meshes of a gill net.
• Tangle nets –Fishes are caught by entangling any protruding part of their body to the
net.
23 FISHING GEARS OF INDIA

• Fishing gears of India can be broadly classified into

• Fishing implements.
• Traps and barriers.
• Hooks and lines.
• Nets
• Fishing implements – These consist of most primitive types of fishing gears like
fish spears, sickle, blow gun and others.
• Fish traps and barriers – Traps of different types like basket traps, box traps,
traps for jumping fish etc. are used in different parts of the country. Screen
barriers are also used which are set in shallow tidal backwaters.
24 FISHING GEARS OF INDIA

• Hooks and lines – These are effective in catching large predatory fishes. Rod
and line is used in sports fishing. Long lines and trolling lines are used to catch
high individual value fish.
• Nets – Cast nets are widely used in inland and marine waters of India to catch
fishes. These are used in clean waters with even bottom. There are stringless
cast net and also stringed cast net.
• Fixed bag net - Stake nets are conical bag nets set in streams and tidal
waters to filter out fish coming along the current. They are held in position by
stakes driven into muddy bottom. A stout coir rope encircles the mouth.
• Dip net - Chinese dip nets are highly specialized nets used in Kerala. It is
stationary net balanced by counter weight so that it can be dipped and lifted.
25 FISHING GEARS OF INDIA

• Among the shore seines the most popular one is the Rampani net of Karnataka.
This is also operated in certain parts of Goa and Maharashtra.
• Single and two boat seines are used in many parts of India to catch shoaling
pelagic fishes.
• In the case of gill nets, the length, depth and mesh size varies depending on the
type of fish to be caught.
• The anchored gill nets made of hemp were used along the South Canara coast.
• Coconut husks are used as floats and heavy stones as sinkers.
26 FISHING GEARS OF INDIA

• However, at present the gill nets make use of synthetic twines.

• Drift nets are one of the most efficient indigenous gears used in India.
• Surface drift nets are extensively used in Malabar and South Canara coasts
e.g. Kola vala.
• Bottom drift nets are commonly used on the Veraval – Porbunder (Dhakal) for
catching pomfrets.
• Besides these, trawls and purse seines are operated for bulk fishing in
different parts of the country.
27 CLASSIFICATION OF FIBRES

• Netting is defined as a meshed structure of indefinite shape and size composed

of one or more yarns twisted or interlaced or joined.
• The basic material for the construction of fishing gear is composed of fibre.
• A fibre may be defined as a unit of matter of hair like structure/dimensions
whose length is at least 200 times greater than its width.
• Fibres are classified based on the sources from which they are obtained as
natural fibres and manmade fibres.
28 CLASSIFICATION OF FIBRES

• Natural materials are obtained either from plants i.e. vegetable fibres or from
animals -animal fibers.
• Vegetable fibres have a cellulose base and are prone to rotting in water as
they are attacked by cellulose digestive microorganisms.
• Vegetable fibres are obtained from different source of plant such as leaves, stalk,
fruit and seeds.
• These fibres are further classified as seed fibre, fruit fibre, bast fibre and leaf
fibres.
29 CLASSIFICATION OF FIBRES

• Seed fibre
• Cotton fibres are the seed fibres derived from the cotton plant.
• Before the introduction of synthetic fibres, the cotton fibre was the most
popular.
• They are extremely fine with a length of only 20-50 mm and a diameter of
0.01 to 0.04 mm.
• Being dull white colour and owing to their fineness, they were used in light
and heavy fishing gear.
30 CLASSIFICATION OF FIBRES

• Bast fibres
• Bast fibres extracted from the bast tissue of stems. Eg: Ramie fibre also
called as china grass has a length of 8-25cm and diameter of 0.024-0.070 m.
• Hemp is derived from the bast of the plant Cannabis sativa.

• Leaf fibre
• Leaf fibres are hard fibres obtained from long leaves. Eg. Sisal, Manila
Sisal is from the leaves of sisal plant. It is 75-100 cm long and 0.01-0.03 mm
dia.
• Manila is obtained from the Abaca plant. These fibres have large diameter
compared to other natural fibres and hence it is used in heavy netting.
31 CLASSIFICATION OF FIBRES

• Fruit fibre
• Coir is a fruit fibre obtained from the coconut husk.
• The fibre length varies from 15-25 cm and diameter 0.01-0.025 mm.
• This is mainly used for ropes.

• Animal fibre
• Animal fibres are composed of protein. Eg. Silk is a very costly
fibre so it is used only for some specialized fishing gears
32 FISHING GEAR MATERIALS

• Rotting
• Vegetable fibres are parts of dead plants and consist of cellulose.
• When exposed to humid condition they are attacked by cellulose digesting
microorganisms, especially bacteria.
• This process of decomposition of dead organic material releases the inorganic
nutrients for new plants.
• Unfortunately, effect of decomposition on fishing net leads to increased labour and
financial loss.
• This was the main reason for the development of synthetic fibres.
• In rotted fibre there is a direct relation between the corroded film in a fishing gear
and breaking strength.
33 FISHING GEAR MATERIALS:
Factors responsible for rotting

• Kind of fibres: Type of fibre smooth or rough

• Water temperature: The activity of cellular digestion bacteria depends on the extent of
temperature. During cold season and decay of vegetable fibre is considerably slower
than during the warm season. Tropics net become useless faster than in temperate
climates.
• Rotting power of water: Running water generally have greater rotting power than
stagnant waters. Fertile water contains high percent of organic materials, lime, and
phosphorus, natural fibres quickly deteriorate due to presence of microbes.
• Duration of immersion in water: Fishing net continuously immersed in the water for a
long time is more liable to rotting than a net used only temporarily or occasionally.
• Depth/place of net operation: When a net kept in the putrid zone or in contact with
mud the rate of deterioration is quicker than a net set on the surface.
34 SYNTHETIC FIBRE

• The development of synthetic fibres was started around 1920 by H.

Staudinger, a winner of Nobel Prize for chemistry in 1953.
• He found that all fibrous material consists of chain of molecules in which a
great number of equal simple units are linked together.
• Synthetic fibres are man made fibre manufactured by chemical synthesis of
simple substance like phenol, benzene, acetylene, prussic acid.
• Depending on the type of polymerization, 4 different groups of compounds can
be identified.
35 SYNTHETIC FIBRE

• Poly condensation: Water is eliminated. eg. Polyamide (PA), Poly ester (PES),
Terrylene, etc.
• Polymeric compound: water is not eliminated. Polyvinyl chloride (PVC),
Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA), Polyvinylidin Alcohol (PVAA).
• Mixed polymers: These are formed by co-polymerisation of mixture of vinylidene
and vinyl alcohol. PVD, Polyamolidine chloride.
• Poly additive compound
36 SYNTHETIC FIBRE
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES

• Density: It is the mass per unit when and is expressed (g/cm3).

• Fibres with low density like PE(0.96), PP (0.91) float in water and hence hold
more weight.
• Low density material gives more length/weight and vice versa.
• This property of the material is significant in construction of certain gear like purse
seine.
• The sinking speed of the gear increase with the increase in the density of the
material.
37 SYNTHETIC FIBRE
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES

• Breaking strength: This is the maximum force applied to a specimen causing it

to rapture or break. It is expressed in kg and special equipment known as
Breaking strength testers/Dynometer are used for determining is expressed in
terms of tenacity and tensile strength.
• Tenacity: It is the Breaking strength per unit denier and Tenacity = Breaking
loading / Total density
• Tensile strength: It is the Breaking strength per unit area and expressed as
kg/mm2.In wet condition PA & PVAA loose breaking strength and PES, PE and
PP remain unaffected.
38 SYNTHETIC FIBRE
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
• Elastic property: Elasticity is a property of a material by virtue of which it tends to
recover its original length and shape after removal of the stress.
• Extensibility: This is the property of a material to undergo extension/elongation
under the influence of a force.
• Water absorption: This is the property of netting material to absorb water when it is
immersed in water and expressed as % of dry weight. Natural fibres absorb more
water where as synthetic materials do not absorb water.
• Shrinkage: This is the reduction in length of a material due to wetting. Shrinkage is
not a major problem in synthetic fibres.
• Abrasion resistance: This is the resistance of a material to wear off any part when
rubbed against any surface. The abrasion resistance of vegetable fibre is
comparatively less. Staple fibre show lower resistance to abrasion than continuous
fibres.
39 SYNTHETIC FIBRE
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES

• Sinking speed: This is the speed at which material sinks through the water. It is
important in purse seine.
• Visibility: It is the property of the netting material to be seen in water during
operation. This property is relevant for gears like gill net. Veg. fibre is more visible
than synthetic fibres. Mono filament is almost invisible as it as transparent.
• Melting point: This is the property of heat resistance of the material. The melting
point and shrinking are important factors while dying the fibres. PA & PES are more
heat resistant than PE & PP.
• Weather resistance: This is the property of the materials to with stand the effect of
sun light, rain, wind, smoke and gases and other atmospheric element. Natural
materials are more resistant than synthetic. The rate of deterioration is measured in
terms of breaking strength.