Description

Fishing techniques are methods for catching fish. The term may also be applied to methods for catching other aquatic animals such as mollusks and edible marine invertebrates.

Fishing Techniques

Fishing techniques include hand-gathering, spearfishing, netting, angling and trapping. Recreational, commercial and artisanal fishers use different techniques, and also, sometimes, the same techniques. Recreational fishers fish for pleasure or sport, while commercial fishers fish for profit. Artisanal fishers use traditional, low-tech methods, for survival in developing countries, and as a cultural heritage in other countries. Mostly, recreational fishers use angling methods and commercial fishers use netting methods.

There is an intricate link between various fishing techniques and knowledge about the fish and their behaviour including migration, foraging and habitat. The effective use of fishing techniques often depends on this additional knowledge. Which techniques are appropriate is dictated mainly by the target species and by its habitat

Bowfishing uses a bow and arrow to kill fish in shallow water from above. Gigging uses small trident type spears with long handles for gigging bullfrogs with a bright light at night, or for gigging suckers and other rough fish in shallow water. Gigging is popular in the American South and Midwest.

Hawaiian slings have a sling separate from the spear, in the manner of an underwater bow and arrow. Harpoons spearfishing with barbed poles were widespread in palaeolithic times. Cosquer Cave in Southern France contains cave art over 16,000 years old, including drawings of seals which appear to have been harpooned.

Pike pole fishing and gaff fishing use handheld poles with sharp spikes to hit and impale fish. Polespears have a sling attached to the spear. Modern spearguns traditional spearfishing is restricted to shallow waters, but the development of the speargun has made the method much more efficient. With practice, divers are able to hold their breath for up to four minutes and sometimes longer. Of course, a diver with underwater breathing equipment can dive for much longer periods.

Tridents are three pronged spears. They are also called leisters or gigs. They are used for spear fishing and were formerly also a military weapon. They feature widely in early mythology and history. Cast nets - are round nets with small weights distributed around the edge. They are also called throw nets. The net is cast or thrown by hand in such a manner that it spreads out on the water and sinks. Fish are caught as the net is hauled back in. This simple device has been in use, with various modifications, for thousands of years. Drift nets - are nets which are not anchored. They are usually gillnets, and are commonly used in the coastal waters of many countries. Their use on the high seas is prohibited, but still occurs. Ghost nets are nets that have been lost at sea. They can be a menace to marine life for many years.

Gillnets catch fish which try to pass through by snagging on the gill covers. Trapped, the fish can neither advance through the net nor retreat. Haaf nets mainly used in the solway firth forming part of the border between England and Scotland. Brought to Great Britain by the Vikings a thousand years ago, the technique involves the fisherman wading out to deep waters with a large rectangular net and waiting for salmon to swim into it. The fish is then scooped up by the raising of the net.

Hand Nets

Hand nets are small nets held open by a hoop. They have been used since antiquity. They are also called scoop nets, and are used for scooping up fish near the surface of the water. They may or may not have a handle if they have a long handle they are called dip nets. When used by anglers to help land fish they are called landing nets. Because hand netting is not destructive to fish, hand nets are used for tag and release, or capturing aquarium fish.

Lift nets are a method of fishing using nets that are submerged to a certain depth and then lifted out of the water vertically. The nets can be flat or shaped like a bag, a rectangle, a pyramid, or a cone. Lift nets can be hand operated, boat operated, or shore operated. They typically use bait or a lightsource as a fish-attractor.

Cheena vala are shore operated lift nets from India. Huge mechanical contrivances hold out horizontal nets with diameters of twenty meters or more. The nets are dipped into the water and raised again, but otherwise cannot be moved. Its name means "Chinese fishing net", though it originates from Southeast Asia.

Salambaw a type of traditional raft or barge-operated large lift nets from the Philippines. It utilizes a tall upright pole or a tower structure around 15 to 20 m in height. At the top of the pole are two large curving spars crossed with each other. A large square net is attached to the ends of these spars. The pole acts as a crane; it can be tilted to submerge the net using a weighted lever mechanism. The operator either pushes or pulls the lever, or climbs on it to bring it down with their body weight, thus raising the pole. A variation of the salambaw operated from large outrigger boats is known as baingan.

Seine nets are large fishing nets that can be arranged in different ways. In purse seining fishing the net hangs vertically in the water by attaching weights along the bottom edge and floats along the top. Danish seining is a method which has some similarities with trawling. A simple and commonly used fishing technique is beach seining.

There is great divergence in the efficiency of different forms of fishing gear, in their adaptability to certain conditions, and in their desirability for specific job. Traditional fishing arts have been developed over the years to adapt to local body conditions; the species of fish desired and targeted size. The most successful fishing methods of an area or a region are those that have stood the test of time. This paper will describe some of the traditional fishing gear and fishing methods employed around the world. Their advantage as well as disadvantages shall be given adequate consideration. From experience with fishing gear and literatures on the subject, there has been a continuum in development of fishing gears, with evolution resulting from modernization factors. The adaptation of new technologies could help small scale fisheries increase their catch, but the introduction of any new fishing technology always demands good rational management and regulation. Vessels must also march with new fishing methods and gear.