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WORKING PAPERS - BOBP/WP/3 Improvement of Large-Mesh Driftnets for Small-Scale Fisheries in Sri Lankaby |
Executing Agency: FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS Funding Agency: SWEDISH INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY Development of Small-Scale Fisheries in the Bay of Bengal Madras, India; June 1980 |
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© FAO 2004
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. |
PREFACE
1. INTRODUCTION
2. TYPES OF LARGE-MESH DRIFTNETS MOST COMMONLY USED IN SRI LANKA
3. ALTERNATIVE NETS USED IN THE EXPERIMENTS
4. CONDUCT OF EXPERIMENTS
5. FINDINGS
6. RECOMMENDATIONS
TABLES
1A. CATCH RECORDS OF EXPERIMENTAL FISHING IN BERUWALA
1B. MONTHLY RECORDS OF EXPERIMENTAL FISHING IN BERUWALA
2A. CATCH RECORDS OF EXPERIMENTAL FISHING IN VELVETTITURAI
2B. MONTHLY RECORDS OF EXPERIMENTAL FISHING IN VELVETTITURAI
APPENDICES
1. MAP OF SRI LANKA
2. PHOTOGRAPHS OF BOATS USED FOR THE FISHING EXPERIMENTS
3. DESIGN OF TRADITIONAL LARGE-MESH DRIFTNET
4. DESIGN OF IMPROVED LARGE-MESH DRIFTNET
5. DIAGRAM: A FLEET OF FISHING NETS
PUBLICATIONS OF THE BAY OF BENGAL PROGRAMME