CEYLON 



Fishing for prawns (large shrL^p) has been carried on in Ceylon's 

 lagoons and estuarine waters and along certain parts of the coast from the 

 earliest times. Data on the quantity of production are not available. The 

 principal method of catching shrimp has not undergone any significant 

 change in recent years. 



Methods of capture range from the simplest form of feeling with 

 the hands in the fine mud of the lagoon bed to the use of fences, traps, 

 and stake nets set to trap prawns in their migration up or down channels 

 connecting lagoons with the sea. Flares are used at night to attract 

 prawns j catches are best on moonless nights. Cast nets are perhaps the 

 most widely used gear. They are used both by waders and by men in dugout 

 canoes. Considerable catches of penaeid pravms are made in beach seines, 

 particularly off the northwest coast, where mangrove formation provides 

 extensive growing grounds. 



Government trawlers have found prawn beds in 10 to 15 fathoms 

 of water which on trial hauls, have yielded over half a ton of large-sized 

 penaeid shrimp. The net used in these exploratory hauls was not suited 

 to shrimp fishing, and as it came alongside, large numbers of shrimp were 

 seen to escape through the mesh. Additional exploratory hauls have re- 

 vealed the existence of an area of mud bottom at a depth varying from 9 

 to 15 fathoms, about 10 miles south of Manapad light on the South Indian 

 Coast. The best fishing results were at a depth of li; fathoms during a 

 westward tow, which yielded 22 baskets of pra;ms. Prawns have been 

 found on this ground during the southwest monsoon only. This accords 

 closely with conditions on the west coast of Ceylon where some of the 

 rivers and lagoons in which prawns are found are landlocked until the 

 heavy rains in April or May restore their outlets to the sea. It is pos- 

 sible that a migration of prawns from the west coast of Ceylon commences 

 during the early part of the monsoon. Experimental work with a 12-foot 

 shrimp beam trawl towed from a 28-foot powered fishing boat is being 

 planned. The trawls were obtained from Denmark. 



While the study of fishing methods and bionomics is going for- 

 liard, the culture of prawns in brackish water areas is receiving attention. 

 Efforts are being made to set up demonstration rearing ponds. 



Prawns are marketed whole, irrespective of size. The principal 

 market for them is in Colombo. They are used for bait as well as for 

 food. Under current supply and demand, the prospects of establishing an 

 export market for Ceylonese shrimp are not bright. 



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