Another type of net used in the estuaries and backwaters is a 

 conical net, with floats and weights to anchor it, or it may be supported 

 by pairs of stakes driven into the imid. Some of the largest of these nets 

 in use along the coast of Bombay are 500 to 700 feet in length with a 

 mouth of 200 to 300 feet in circumference. They are usually set against 

 the tide, which svieeps the prawns into them. The nets are pulled up at 

 the turn of the tide. 



Several variants of this method of shrimp fishing are used in 

 different parts of India. Sluice gates to a tidal pond, for example, may 

 be left open with the flood tide. As the tide ebbs, a net which catches 

 the shrimp that move out with the tide is placed over the sluice. 



Ricefield fishing 



In the northwestern districts of Travanco re -Cochin, shrimp are 

 taken in ricefields on a commercial scale. The method is similar to that 

 employed in other Indo-Pacific regions and was first adopted in the 

 villages bordering Cochin harbor. Currently, about 10,000 acres are re- 

 portedly in use for shrimp cultivation during a part of the year. The 

 ricefields in the Cochin area are cultivated only once a year (June- 

 October) and during the rest of the year are used for shrimp cultivation. 

 Metapenaeus affinis and M. dobsoni constitute the bulk of the catches 

 from the ricefields. THe better ricefields may yield aroiind 1,000 pounds 

 of shrimp per acre. 



Canal fishing 



In the canals intersecting the Vypeen Island in Travancore- 

 Cochin, shrimp are caught by a net fixed at the end of two bamboo fences 

 converging from both banks of the canal. The right to fish for shrimp in 

 these canals is avjarded each year to the highest bidder by the Department 

 of Fisheries of the State. 



Lake fishing 



The lake fisheries, particularly those in Travancore-Cochin, 

 often employ Chinese dip nets. In the Chilka Lake, the Oriya fishermen 

 construct fences of about $0 feet in length with a ring of traps at the 

 inner end. The habit of the shrimp of moving along the shores of the 

 lake at night is exploited in this manner. The fence guides the shrimp 

 into the enclosed area and then into the traps. 



In certain brackish -water lakes, fishermen use two canoes 

 connected by short bamboo poles from which a heavy iron chain is extended. 

 As the canoes are poled over the water, the dragging chain moves over the 

 raudcfy- bottom of the lake and stirs the shrimp up. The shrimp jump out 

 of the water and often fall either directly into the canoes or into 

 special woven sidings attached to them. 



ii5 



