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NAME: MUSTAPHA ABUBAKAR ZUBAIR REGNO: AGR/17/AGR/01134

All types of fishing gear, regardless of how it might be used, are designed to lure and capture fish. Fishing
gears are defined as tools used to capture marine/aquatic resources, whereas how the gear is used is the
fishing method. Additionally, a single type of gear may also be used in multiple ways. Different target
species require different fishing gear to effectively catch the target species.

Cast Net
The cast net is a circular net which is casted from the shore or from
a small boat, but, in general, in shallow waters, to catch fish by
falling and closing in on them. The cast net has a cone-shape, with
weights attached to the perimeter.
The catching principle is that the net is thrown flat upon the water
surface and catch the fish by falling and closing in on them. Their
use is usually restricted to shallow waters. The operation of a cast
net requires considerable knowledge and skill from the fisherman.
Contemporary cast nets have a radius which ranges from 4 to 12 feet (1.2 to 3.6 meters). Only strong
people can lift the larger nets once they are filled with fish. Standard nets for recreational fishing have a
four-foot hoop. Weights are usually distributed around the edge at about one pound per foot (1.5
kilograms per meter). Attached to the net is a handline, one end of which is held in the hand as the net
is thrown. When the net is full, a retrieval clamp, which works like a wringer on a mop, closes the net
around the fish. The net is then retrieved by pulling on this handline. The net is lifted into a bucket and
the clamp is released, dumping the caught fish into the bucket. Cast nets work best in water no deeper
than their radius. Casting is best done in waters free of obstructions. Reeds cause tangles and branches
can rip nets. The net caster may choose to stand with one hand holding the handline, and with the net
draped over the other arm so that the weights dangle, or, with most of the net being held in one hand
and only a part of the lead line held in the other hand so the weights dangle in a staggered fashion
(approximately half of the weights in the throwing hand being held higher than the rest of the weights).
The line is then thrown out to the water, using both hands, in a circular motion rather as in hammer
throwing. The net can be cast from a boat, or from the shore, or by wading.

Drag Net

This is a general term which can be applied to any net which is

dragged or hauled across a river or along the bottom of a lake or
sea. An example is the seine net shown in the image. The fishing
depth of this net can be adjusted by adding weights to the bottom.
The drag net is the net which is dragged either by two boats or by
several persons or fishermen. Accordingly, the one that is dragged
by two boats is called the boat seine and catches free swimming
fishes. The one that is pulled by fishermen standing in the shallow waters and pulling the net ashore is a
shore seine. This will catch the large fish shoals or schools approaching the shallow waters primarily for
feeding. Both the nets, would reduce the standing population of one or several fish species. So long as
this is managed to the optimum level, there is no problem and the the population of fishes remains
stable and supports a normal fishery through normal recruitment of young’s to the fish stock. . However,
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if the fishing is in excess, it becomes the overfishing or over thinning of the fish population. This will
gradually deplete the fish stock and fishery will ultimately become uneconomic and collapse. The fishery
of any fish has therefore to be managed by implementing the management of fishing pressure

Wounding gears (Spears)

Grappling and wounding gears are an extension of the fisherman’s arm. These gears include: • Clamps •
Tongs • Spears • Harpoons Typically these types of gear are used to capture solitary fish swimming near
the surface. However, some are used to capture benthic species like Mussels and other types of
shellfish. Although the use of these gears has been banned in some countries, because the target fish
may be injured and never captured, fisheries utilizing these gears do exist. Some of the simplest tools
are the hand rakes, for shoreline Calms, Oysters, and seaweed. Longhandled rakes, shovels, tongs, and
hoes as well as short-handled “irons,” knives, and tines are used to harvest Sea Urchins, Abalone,
Mussels, seaweed, sponges, and Conch throughout the U.S. Hand tongs attached to ropes have been
used both historically and presently to collect Oysters from boats in the Chesapeake Bay. Spearing is one
of the oldest methods of fishing that uses a tool. A harpoon refers to a device with one point and a short
shaft, which is often used to catch large and valuable species like Swordfish and Tuna. Whereas, a spear
has 2-3 prongs and a longer shaft and are often used in nearshore waters. A harpoon Swordfish fishery
operates in the Southern California Bight between June and November, when the water conditions are
calm enough to fish with harpoons.

Gill and entangling nets

Gill nets, which catch the fish in their meshes, are mostly used in long rows. As setnets they are
anchored or fixed by stakes; as drift nets they drift freely or with a fishing craft. Before the invention of
mid-water trawls, drift nets, with surrounding nets, were the principal gear for fishing pelagic fishes.
Sometimes gill nets do not catch by meshing but by entangling the fish, especially those too large for the
mesh size or provided with spines or hard fins. Single-walled tangle nets are widely used to catch
sturgeon, salmon, and shellfish, such as the king crab. Some tangle nets are double walled; most are
triple walled, such as the trammel nets used especially for flatfish.

Trammels net
Trammel nets are similar to a gill net but are made up of
three layers of netting. In UK waters they are generally set
on or close to the seabed to target demersal fish. In some
overseas fisheries they may be set in mid water or just below
the surface to target pelagic fish.
Compared to gill nets, trammel nets sometimes show
poorer selectivity because of the tangling characteristics of
the three layers of netting compared to the single layer of a
gill net. By catch is usually minimised by the skippers knowledge of the grounds and by him shooting his
gear where he expects there to be an abundance of the target species with minimum by-catch. In some
areas there can be problems with cetacean by-catch, but in most fisheries the skippers are already
aware of this and have adopted the use of acoustic pingers to keep the cetaceans away from the gear.
Seabed contact with trammel nets is limited to very light contact from the footrope and minimal contact
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from the small anchors at each end. These will penetrate the seabed but will have minimum, if any
ploughing effect on the seabed, only moving when the gear is hauled. As the gear is not towed over the
seabed there should be very little abrasion. Occasionally there may be problems with ‘ghost fishing’.
This is where the nets are lost and continue fishing for some time after they are lost. There have been
attempts to mitigate this by encouraging fishermen to report lost gear so that it can be retrieved at a
later date. It has also been found that lost nets will very quickly get entangled with weed and become
visible to the fish and eventually sink to the seabed.
Traps
Traps, large stationary nets or barrages or pots, are gears in which the fish are retained or enter
voluntarily and will be hampered from escaping. They are designed in such manner that the entrance
itself became a non-return device, allowing the fish to enter the trap but making it impossible to leave
the catching chamber. Traps are baited or not. Pieces of fish are often used as bait. Artificial baits are
also in use. Other types of traps are provided with large guiding panels made from netting to lead the
fish into the catching chamber. Different materials are used for building a trap: wood, split bamboo,
netting wire are some examples
Fish Operation: These are a group of gear in which the fish enters voluntarily, but is hampered from
coming out. Fishermen visit traps regularly for collecting the catch and replacing bait, if any, leaving
the gears set in the same place for several days. Traps like Pots can more easily be moved from one
fishing location to another.
References
Coull JR. World fisheries resources. London: Routledge; 1993. Fishing Gear Type: Technology Fact
Sheets. In: Fisheries and Aquaculture topics.
Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; c2005-2011 [cited 2011 May 12].
Available from: http://www.fao.org/fishery/geartype/search/en
Gabriel O, Lange K, Dahm E, Wendt T. Fish catching methods of the world. 4th ed. Oxford: Blackwell
Publishing; 2005.
Mebust L. Harpoon swordfishing in the bight of southern California.