Asian-Pacific Aquaculture 2019

June 19 - 21, 2019

Chennai Tamil Nadu - India

PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF MULTIFILAMENT AND MONOFILAMENT CAST NET FISHING IN WULAR LAKE, KASHMIR

Mudassir Azhar*, Leela Edwin, B. Manoj Kumar, Saly.N. Thomas and M.P.Remesan
Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies, Panangad, Cochin - 682 506, India
 
*e-mail:mudassirazhar99@gmail.com
 

Wular lake is the largest freshwater lake of Kashmir within river Jhelum basin. It is a major source of fish in the valley supporting a large population living along its fringes. Fishermen of Wular lake operate stringless polyamide multifilament cast nets. Experimental monofilament cast net(stringed and stringless) and multifilament cast net (stringed and stringless) were fabricated and operated in the Wular lake of Kashmir to analyze the catching efficiency, catch composition and size range of fish caught in multi and monofilament netting material. The mesh size of both types of experimental nets was 30 mm and 50 operations each were conducted. Stringed and stringless monofilament cast net caught nine species and the total number of fish was 235. The highest percentage catch was of Cyprinus carpio communis (31.0%) in terms of number. Multifilament stringed and stringless cast net caught 145 fishes. The highest percentage catch was of Ctenopharyngodon idella (27.5%). The monofilament cast nets showed better catching efficiency than the multifilament nets as per the results of the study. While, with reference to design of cast net, stringed cast net shows higher catching efficiency than the stringless cast net. The introduction of this kind of cast net in the Wular lake can improve the catch rate and the income of fishermen and can be a means of alternate livelihood for those engaged in agriculture also.