Large-mesh driftnets play a pivotal role in Sri Lankas small-scale fisheries. They captured about 25% of all the fish Sri Lanka produced in 1978.

In view of the rising cost of these widely used nets, a nine-month experimental project was conducted in 1979 on making the nets less costly and more productive. Under the project, fishermen-cum-boat-owners in two fishing centres-Beruwala and Velvettiturai- used two kinds of nets: traditional nets and the modified nets supplied by the Bay of Bengal Programme. Comparative data on fish catch by species and weight for the two kinds of nets revealed that nylon nets of finer yarn-which are 25% cheaper than the traditional nets-raised the fish catch by 20 to 30 per cent during the experiments.

The other conclusions resulting from the experiments concern the ropes and floats used for driftnets. Polypropylene ropes and large cylindrical auxiliary surface floats are as good as —and cheaper than the nylon ropes and small longitudinal floats used at present with largemesh driftnets.

Following from the above, the main recommendation is that the use of thinner nylon netting material, of polypropylene ropes and of large floats should be energetically promoted. Their manufacture and import should be encouraged.