KOCHI:The fisherfolk and the fishing boat operators welcomed the initiative by the Network for Fish Quality Management and Sustainable Fishing (NETFISH) to propagate square mesh codend in trawl nets, which would reduce ‘byatch’ considerably.
The use of square mesh codend is also found to have reduced the fuel consumption of fishing boats.
Announcing findings of the trials conducted on the new gear at a function held at Munambam near here on Monday, NETFISH chief executive officer Dr Joice V Thomas said the trials showed that boats fitted with square mesh codends for trawl nets consumed two litre less fuel per hour, compared to vessels that used conventional gears.
“It was also found that juveniles, squid, cuttlefish and other beings having little commercial value escaped the trawl net. The catch in the square mesh codend had very little bycatch, which saved a lot of sorting time,” he added. In the experiments conducted off the Munambam coast in March this year, 25-mm square mesh codend was used. The trials were conducted with the support of Fishing Boat Owners and Operators Coordination Committee chairman P P Girish. Representing the fisher organisations, Deep Sea Fishing Boat Operators Association president K B Kasim, Trawlnet Boat Operators Association president K K Velayudhan and Fishing Boat Operators Welfare Association president K K Pushkaran welcomed the introduction of square mesh codend.
The NETFISH also unveiled three new fishing gears at the function, which was organised in connection with the World Ocean Day. NETFISH state coordinator Santhosh N K , and A R Sudhan of the Munambam Harbour Management Society also spoke.