222 



[September, 1908. 



FIBRES. 



THE FISHING NETS OP THE KOLIS 

 OF BANDRA, BOMBAY 

 PRESIDENCY. 



By V. P. Ribeiro. 



Extra Assistant Conservatoi of Forests, 

 Hyderabad (Sind). 

 Kolis. 



[The Kolis are a race of the West 

 Coast of India divided into a large 

 number of tribes. Their settlements 

 stretch from the deserts north of Gujarat 

 to Ratnagiri, inland by Pandharpur in 

 the south of Poona as far east as the 

 Mahadev or Balaghat hills in the Nizam's 

 Dominions and through the Central Pro- 

 vinces and Berar, north to Khandesh.* 

 They are found in every village in 

 Gujarat, the Konkan and the Deccan. 

 They are skilful husbandmen and raise 

 the finest kinds of rice. One tribe settled 

 just north of Bombay is that of the 

 Mata or Duugari Kolis and consist* of 

 fishermen who use among their nets 

 those here described. — Ed.] 



Crotalarta Juncea. Vernacular 

 Names. 



The nets used by Kolis are made 

 from the fibre of Crolalaria juncea 

 (vernacular name " Tag"), and are of 3 or 

 4 distinct shapes adapted to different 

 depths of water, and to different fish. 



A net, known among the Kolis as 

 "dowl" or "dole "is considered to be 

 the best, and is used invariably for deep- 

 sea fishing and for all kinds of fish. 

 When spread into the sea, it assumes a 

 pyramidal or conical shape, as shown in 

 the accompanying rough sketch. 



The length of this net, from apex A to 

 base B, is 162 feet. Each side of the 

 base or mouth B B,' B C, B' C and C C 

 measures 72 feet, i.e., the whole measure- 

 ment round the base is 288 feet. 



The apex A is tied with a string, when 

 the net is spread, and can be opened 

 when it is necessary, to remove the fish. 

 Its base or mouth B B,' C C is open, and 

 a strong rope passes round it. In the 

 accompanying sketch b and b' are two 

 buoys or empty casks about 72 feet 

 apart, floating in the sea, and kept in 

 position by the anchors D and D' to 



* Dr. T. Wilson held that the name was Kuli or 

 clansmen, that they were the aboriginals of the 

 plains while the Bhils were the aboriginals of 

 the hills. — Bombay Gazetteer, Thana, Vol. XIII., 

 Part I.) 



which they are fastened by two strong 

 ropes or hawsers. The two corners B 

 and B' of the net are attached to the 

 two buoys b and b.' The other two 

 corners C and C of the net are fixed to 

 the two anchors by a pair of strong 

 ropes C D and C D'. 



When the net is full, the thin ropes 

 b c and b' c' are pulled, so as to raise the 

 corners C and C to B and B.' This has 

 the effect of closing the mouth of the 

 net. The net is then detached from the 

 buoys and anchors, and hauled into a 

 boat alongside of it, and the fish removed 

 by unfastening of apex of the net. The 

 buoys and anchors with ropes l'emain 

 permanently in the sea. 



In fair weather the anchors and casks 

 are sometimes dispensed with, and the 

 net is fixed to two masts (preferably of 

 Adina cordifolia, it being very durable 

 under water) sunk upright in the sea 

 from 70 to 80 feet apart. The Avorking 

 of the net under these conditions will be 

 clear. 



Placing op Nets. 



In this case the corners C and C have 

 lead weights attached and they (the 

 corners C and C) are raised (when necess- 

 ary to close the mouth of the net) by 

 ropes and pulleys at the top of the masts 

 (as shown in figure 2 in the accompany- 

 ing diagram). 



Value op Net. 



The value of this net (of the size given 

 above) is Rs. 250/ and it costs about Rs. 8 

 a month for tanning; The meshes of the 

 " dowl " net vary from Q-h inches to | 

 inch. The size of the mesh near the 

 mouth is 6i inches and it gradually 

 decreases to j inch towards the apex. 

 For regulating the size of mesh, the net 

 is divided into 5 | tarts which are named 

 as follows :— 



Khola = a length of 18 feet from A apex 

 with a g- inch mesh. 



Mazola=36 feet from K to M with a 

 2 inch mesh. 



Ckiret = 36 feet from N to P with a 

 mesli from H to 3 inches. 



Mowr= 36 feet P B' with a mesh of 3 to 

 6| inches. 



Nets similar ia shape and make as the 

 above, but of smaller dimensions (30 feet 

 long and 27 feet in circumference), are 

 called "boksha", and can be had for 

 Rs. 10. 



