Cooch Behar District, West Bengal, India
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Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge Vol. 13 (3), July 2014, pp. 619-625 Fishing gears operated in lentic and lotic water bodies of Cooch Behar district, West Bengal, India Ram Krishna Das & Sudip Barat* Aquaculture and Limnology Research Unit, Department of Zoology, University of North Bengal, Siliguri 734 013, District Darjeeling, West Bengal, India E-mails: [email protected]; [email protected] Received 07.08.12, revised 20.01.14 A study was carried out to investigate different types of existing fishing gears employed by fishermen in lentic and lotic water bodies namely beels, ponds and rivers of Cooch Behar district of West Bengal, India. Observations revealed that various fishing gears are based on one or more factor such as behavior of fishes, microhabitat of fishes, physiography of water body, seasons of a year and so on. In the district of Cooch Behar about 22 types of fishing gears were documented, amongst them 8 are categorized as Net fishing gears, 2 as Tackles and 12 as Miscellaneous gears. Most of the fishing gears are fabricated by local people and fishermen with the help of locally available materials. The very small mesh size, of some fishing nets, catches all size groups of fishes and in turn results in depletion of fish diversity in the beels, ponds and rivers of Cooch Behar district. Keywords: Beel, Cooch Behar, Fish, Fishing gear, Pond, River IPC Int. Cl.8: A01K 61/00, A01K 69/00, A01K 74/00, A01K 75/00, A01K 79/00 Cooch Behar district is located in the north eastern bearing on the fish population dynamics, it is very part of the State of West Bengal, India and bounded important to study the nature of gears commonly used by district Jalpaiguri in the north, State of Assam in that may lead to selective fishing, thus minimizing the east and the international border in the form stress on a particular size group of fishes9. The fishing of Indo-Bangladesh boundary in the south as well methods used in the different parts of India have been as west. The area of the district is 3387 km2 and well described by various authors1-3,5-11. contributes about 3.87% of the land mass of the State Since, the district has diverse numbers of fishing of West Bengal. Cooch Behar district has large gears utilized by the fishermen but, detailed study of numbers of lentic water bodies such as fish ponds fishing gears by a researcher in the past is lacking. and beels namely Rasik Beel, Raichangmari Beel, The present work, therefore, was focused on the Bochamari Beel, Naldoba Beel and lotic water fabrication and mode of operation on the different bodies, such as the rivers, Torsa, Kaljani, Ghargharia, types of fishing gears employed by the fishermen in Teesta, Jaldhaka,Raidak and Gadadhar which harbour beels, ponds and rivers in the district of Cooch Behar, different types of fresh water fishes. Most of the West Bengal. rivers of Cooch Behar district originate in the Himalayas and enter Cooch Behar district from Methodology North or North western direction, flowing towards The study was carried out in Cooch Behar district South or South east direction. Economy of this district of West Bengal (25o57'47'' to 26o36'2'' North latitude to a great extent is dependent on aquaculture and and between 89o54'35'' to 88o47'44''East longitude). fisheries. Information on different fishing gears operated in Application of gears in fishery is a result of lentic and lotic water bodies of Cooch Behar district experiences gained over a long period of time. were collected by regular visits to 13 fishermen’s Every water body has its unique pattern of gears. villages(Ambari, Kaljani, Siddheswari, Ghugumari, Since the pattern and regulation of fishing has a great Rasikbil, Takoamari, Deocharai, Chengmari, Balaghat, —————— Chhat Deocharai, Jhaljhali, Shikdarer Khata, Bhurkush.) *Corresponding author during the period of July 2011 to June 2012. About 24 620 INDIAN J TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE, VOL. 13, NO. 3, JULY 2014 trips have been made during the entire study period. monofilament. Fishes like Mystus sp., Heteropneustes Altogether 54 fishermen, net makers and prominent fossilis, Clarias batrachus,Channa spp., Anabas sp, citizens were interviewed to collect information about Puntius spp, Mastacembelus sp., Wallago attu, Labeo fishing gears. Prior information consent (PIC) was rohita and so on are caught. It is also a major taken from each individual who provided information fishing gear operated in rivers and beels throughout about fishing gears. Various types of participatory the year. research tools such as group discussion, semi- structured interviews, key informer surveys and site Lift net (Sitki Jal) observations were done to gather knowledge about The Lift net or Sitki jal (Fig. 3) is a square net. fishing gears. During data collection, photographs of The four corners of which are tied to the tip of the representative fishing gears were taken by a digital two crossed flexible bamboos. A bamboo is attached camera and measurement of some physical characters to the point of crossing and the whole arrangement such as length, height, width, mesh size (in case of may or may not have a rope. Lift net is usually nets) were taken by a meter scale. operated in the monsoon months. The major catch composition includes Puntius spp., Amblypharyngodon Results mola and Barilius sp. Summary of the different types of fishing gears are shown in Table 1. Based on the usage of materials Drag net (Masari jal and Bed jal) and fabrication, the fishing gears may be classified Drag net (Fig. 4) locally called as Masari jal and as (i) Net fishing gears(fishing gears which are Bed jal. This net, which is widely used, is structurally predominantly constructed of net, for example, Cast rectangular in shape and has a head rope carrying net, Gill net, Lift net, Drag net, Cloth net, Push net, floats and a foot rope with or without sinkers. The net Stationary lift net, Seine net) (ii) Tackles (fishing is usually operated throughout the year. The mesh gears in which hooks are an important part to size is less than 0.12cm. Most of the pond fishes catch fish individually such as Hook and line) and such as Indian Major Carp, Exotic Carp, Labeo bata, (iii) Miscellaneous gears(all other fishing gears 4 Puntius spp., Mystus sp, Notopterus sp and air- namely Spear fishing, Electro-fishing) . breathing fishes are caught by drag net. (i) Net fishing gears Cloth net ( Tana Jal ) Cast net (Chhabi Jal) The cloth net is a fine meshed mosquito net. Cast net or Chhabi Jal (Fig. 1) is the main fishing It is locally called Tana jal. During fishing by gear of Cooch Behar district. Cast net is a small cloth net, two persons hold the net at opposite ends bell - shaped net with weights on the periphery and and lift it from the water when sufficient number having a string. The principle is to throw the net of fishes are trapped. Cloth net is implemented in a circle for trapping the fishes of a water body. throughout the year except monsoon months in ponds Cast net is operated in rivers, beels and ponds of Cooch Behar district. The fishes usually caught throughout the year. Fishes like Indian Major by cloth net are Puntius spp., Amblypharyngodon Carp, Labeo bata, Hypophthalmichthys molitrix, mola and Esomus denricus. Ctenopharyngodon idella, Puntius spp., Mystus sp, and others are caught. Push net (Thela Jal) Push net or Thela jal is a very common net used Gill net (Phansi Jal) by local fishermen to catch fishes in the lentic Gill net locally called Phansi jal (Fig. 2) is and lotic water bodies of Cooch Behar district. It is commonly used to catch fishes by gilling. Fishes made up of a triangular bamboo frame fitted with a which try to pass through it get gilled. Mesh size of mosquito netting cloth (Fig. 5). Fishermen operate it the gill net varies from 0.6-7.5 cm for different sized by pushing it in the water body and is used throughout target fishes. It is wall netting, rectangular in shape the year. Fishes like Trichogaster sp., spawn and and is provided with a head rope of polypropylene fry of Murrels, Puntius spp., Amblypharyngodon carrying floats and a foot rope with or without mola and Esomus denricus are usually caught by the sinkers. Gill nets are made up of polyamide Push net. DAS & BARAT: FISHING GEARS OF COOCH BEHAR DISTRICT, WEST BENGAL, INDIA 621 Table 1—A summary of the fishing gears operated in the Rivers, Beels and Ponds of Cooch Behar district, West Bengal, India I. Net Fishing Gears Fishing Gears Local name Shape Length Height Mesh size Fishing period Number of (M) (M) (CM) Fisherman required Cast net Chhabi jal Bell shaped - 4.30-5.20 0.6-6.0 Throughout the year 1 Gill net Phansi jal Rectangular 20-60 0.65-3.5 0.6-7.5 Throughout the year 1 Lift net Sitki jal Square 2.0-3.0 - 0.5-1.0 Monsoon 1 Drag net Masari jal and Rectangular 50 6.0 0.10-0.15 Throughout the year 3-4 Bed jal Cloth net Tana jal Rectangular - - 0.10-0.15 Throughout the year 2-3 except Monsoon Push net Thela jal Triangular - - 0.10-0.15 Throughout the year 1 Stationary Khora jal Triangular 10-12 - 0.5-2.0 Throughout the year 1 lift net Seine net Haath jal Rectangular 20 2.0 0.5-1.0 Monsoon 2 II. Tackles Fishing gears Local name Shape Length Height Fishing period Number of fishermen (M) (M) required Hook and Line Barshi Rod shaped 2.0-3.0 - Throughout the year 1 Barsha Barsha - - - Monsoon 1 III.