Traditional Riverine Fish Catching Devices of Assam

Devashish Kar; Anjam Hussain Barbhuiya; Arifuddin M.; Masuk Ahmed Barbhuiya; Pankaj Chetia; Riyajul Islam; Seydur Rahman

doi:10.56093/ft.v44i2.16532

Authors

Devashish Kar Assam University, Dargakona, Silchar
Anjam Hussain Barbhuiya Assam University, Dargakona, Silchar
Arifuddin M. Assam University, Dargakona, Silchar
Masuk Ahmed Barbhuiya Assam University, Dargakona, Silchar
Pankaj Chetia Assam University, Dargakona, Silchar
Riyajul Islam Assam University, Dargakona, Silchar
Seydur Rahman Assam University, Dargakona, Silchar

https://doi.org/10.56093/ft.v44i2.16532

Keywords:

Fishing gears, Barak river, Dhaleswari river, Jatinga river, Brahmaputra river, Dhansiri river and Dorika river, Assam

Abstract

Traditional riverine fish catching devices operated in the Barak, Dhaleswari, Jatinga, Brahmaputra, Dhansiri and Dorika rivers, in Assam have been studied with regard to their structure, operation and productivity. The study revealed the occurrence of 18 types of fish catching devices, which have been categorized into seven groups, viz., (i) hook and line gear (lar barshi and kupa barshi), (ii) traps (dori, polo, dhu, hogra and chairon jal), (iii) towed gear (leua jal and pelain jal), (iv) dip nets (dheki jal and dorar jal), (v) entangling gillnets (patan jal ), (vi) seines (maha jal, pan jal and basta jal) and (vii) falling gears (jhaki jal, rekh jal and utar jal). The trap polo of river Dorika obtained the highest catch per man-hour (22.52 kg) followed by jhaki jal in river Brahmaputra (1.11 kg) and polo in river Barak (1.00 kg). Maha jal, though a massive gear, has given poor catch per man-hour (< 0.005 kg).