Trapping is a passive way to catch fish, shellfish, crustaceans. (crabs, prawns, etc.) and cephalopods (octopus, squid, etc.) and is different from active fishing
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CONTENTSAcknowledgementsv 1. WHATIS TRAPPING?1 What are traps?1 Types of traps and pots1 How do traps and pots work?2 2. WHATTYPES OFFISH, CRUSTACEANS AND CEPHALOPODS CAN YOU CATCH WITH TRAPS?8 Tropical areas8 Subtropical and temperate areas8 Colderwaters10 3. IS TRAPPING SUITABLE FOR YOU?11 4. GEAR NEEDED FOR TRAPAND POTFISHING12 Trap- and pot-making materials12 Good bait12 Vessel and onboard equipment12 Vessel12 Trap handling equipment12 Bait storage12 Equipment for handling and preserving the catch12 5. WHATYOU NEED TO KNOWTO GO TRAPPING14 Types of fish to catch and the traps that will catch them14 Types of bait and/orotherattractants needed and where to find them14 Suitable landing places14 Amarket foryourcatch14 Funding fornew vessels and equipment15 6. HOWTO MAKE VARIOUS TYPES OFTRAPS AND POTS16 Hiding places orhabitat traps16 Brush traps16 Eel tubes16 Octopus pots and traps16 Barriers to fish movement16 Enclosed traps and pots (baskets) 17 Frame 17 Covering 17 Funnels 17 Door 18 Bait holder 18 Escape gaps 21 Ballast21 Anodes for metallic framed pots or traps21 Making traps to catch different types of fish, crustaceans and cephalopods21 Finfish traps and pots22 Traps and pots to catch lobsters, shrimps, prawns, crabs and other crustaceans36 Octopus, squid and cuttlefish pots and traps45
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7. SELECTION OFFISHING GROUNDS50 Bottom species51 Mid-waterand surface species51 8. THE FISHING OPERATION52 Rigging52 Baiting53 Setting54 Soak time56 Hauling56 9. CARE OFTHE CATCH58 Trap and pot catch handling guidelines58 Removal of the catch from the trap or pot58 Processing your catch58 Icing and storing60 Unloading your catch60 10. OTHER THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW61 REFERENCES52
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSThis manual could not have been written without the specialhelp given to me by Mr Joel Prado, Fishery Industry Officer, FAO Fishery Technology Service (FIIT) and Mr Richard Mounsey, Senior Gear Technologist, Fisheries Division, Northern Territory Department of Primary Industry and Fisheries. To both, I offer a special personal thanks. Thanks are also due to Mr J MacCartie, from the NorthernTerritory Fisheries Division, and the people who contributed information that has been included in the manual. These include: K. Aitken from the Caribbean; L. Basso, P. Fontaine, M. Boudreau and M. Monette from Quebec; A. Gonzales, L. Cardenas and R. Fernandez from Cuba; M. Okawra, P. Masthawee, S. Sae-Ung, S. Ananpongsuk and J. Fukui from the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Centre (SEAFDEC); T. H. Kim from the Republic of Korea; and D. Furevik and S. P. H„gensen from Norway. Many of the illustrations have been based on diagrams andfigures provided by the above people and on the illustrations of fishing gear in the FAO catalogue of small-scale fishing gear, second edition and the FAO catalogue of fishing gear designs. Coonamessett Farm, Massachusetts, USAalso kindly provided a drawing.
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1.WHAT IS TRAPPING? Fishing is one of the oldest ways by which people have fedthemselves and their families. Except for gathering shellfish by hand and spearing fish (Figure 1), primitive trapping is probably the oldest form of fishing.In early times, flowing water caused by tidal movement andchanges in river and lake levels were probably used to trap fish behind rudimentary barriers, often made from sticks and stones. It is likely that early humans found that fish catches could be improved by driving fish into these barriers. They would have found that catches from these barriers decreased over time, as fish became accustomed to them, and would have had to move the traps to fresh areas where more fish could be caught. It would have been hard work to construct new traps, either by moving stones from the old trap or finding new ones. Primitive fishers probably tried making barriers from lighter, more readily available material such as tree branches, brush and vines (Figure 2). This led to the fishers inventing lighter, movable traps made from brush and nets made from vines which they could carry with them when they moved to new areas. They may even have tried bigger, more complicated corral-type fish traps in lakes, rivers and coastal waters.Either by accident or by inspiration, fishers then found that:fish were caught in traps as the tide fell, were forced intothem by the current or could be chased into them by the fisher;fish entered the trap for protection or simply followed otherfish seeking shelter;objects in the traps such as white stones attracted the fish;bits of fish or meat would attract more fish.It is from such beginnings that modern traps and pots havedeveloped.Traps and pots do not seem to have developed in only one part of the world. As fish became an important food source, many types of traps and pots were developed. We will look at some of this variety later in the manual, concentrating on portable traps and pots and giving less detail about corrals and other herding devices.WHAT ARE TRAPS? Traps are simple, passive fishing gear that allow fish to enter and then make it hard for them to escape. This is often achieved by:putting chambers in the trap or pot that can be closed oncethe fish enters;having a funnel that makes it difficult for the fish to escape (Figure 17, p. 20).Smaller traps are generally fully covered except for theentrance or entrances, while larger traps that extend above the water level are often left open at the top.TYPES OF TRAPS AND POTS People in different parts of the world are not always referring to exactly the same things when they use the words “trap” and “pot”. In general, traps are large structures fixed to the shore. Pots are smaller, movable traps, enclosed baskets or boxes that are set from a boat or by hand. Asimple system for the naming of traps and pots was produced by von Brandt in 1959 for FAO and is used in this manual. General types of traps and pots include:traps that form barriers to fish movement, including walls ordams, fences, fyke nets, gratings and watched chambers that can be closed by the fisher after the fish enters (Figure 2);traps that make hiding places (habitat traps), includingbrush traps and octopus pots (Figures 3a and 3c);1
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2tubular traps, which are narrow funnels or hoses that stopthe fish from getting out backwards; eel tubes fall into this category (Figure 3b);traps that are mechanically closed by the fish, includinggravity traps or box traps, bent-rod traps (whipping bough traps), torsion traps and snares;baskets, which are enclosed traps and pots usually with astructure to make escape difficult; they include pots made of wood, wire or plastic, conical and drum-like traps made of netting with hoops and frames (e.g. drum nets) and box- like traps made with strong frames (Figures 4, 5 and 6);large open traps or corrals with a part or mechanism to stop fish from escaping, which can be fixed on sticks or anchors, set or floating (Figure 7);traps set out of the water to catch fish such as flying fishthat jump off the tops of waves and glide over the surface when in danger; these can be box-shaped, rafts, boats or nets (“veranda” net types); scoop nets are sometimes used for making fish jump. Pitfall traps can be used for marine animals that migrate over land, such as coconut crabs.In this manual we will concentrate on how you can make anduse the various types of transportable traps and pots, the “basket” type. The making and use of other types will be looked at only very briefly. HOW DO TRAPS AND POTS WORK? Trapping is a passive way to catch fish, shellfish, crustaceans (crabs, prawns, etc.) and cephalopods (octopus, squid, etc.) and is different from active fishing methods such as dredging and trawling. Traps can vary, from simple structures such as rock corrals able to hold various fish species passing by, to highly specialized equipment such as lobster pots.Simple trapping and potting can be carried out from smallboats or canoes (Figure 8) or from large vessels. The efficiency of fishing with pots or traps can be improved by the use on board vessels of such equipment as power winches and haulers (Figure 9).Fish that enter a trap or pot find it difficult to get out and this gives the fisher time to take the fish that are caught.An advantage of trapping is that it allows some control overthe species and sizes of the fish you catch. The trap entrance, or funnel, can be regulated to control the maximum size of fish that enter. The size of the holes, or mesh, in the body of the trap can regulate the minimum size that is retained. To a large extent, the fish species that will be caught depend on the type, model and characteristics of the pot or trap being used.Figure 1Primitive hunter spearing fish
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82.WHAT TYPES OF FISH,CRUSTACEANS AND CEPHALOPODS CAN YOU CATCH WITH TRAPS? Most fish, crustaceans (lobster, shrimps, crabs, etc.) and cephalopods (squid, cuttlefish, octopus, etc.) can be caught with traps and pots. As early fishers found, these animals often see traps and pots as a hiding place or a place where food can be found. Thus, fish that are seeking shelter, migrating or looking for food can usually be caught in numbers great enough to feed a family or to sell or barter. The number that you catch depends on how many fish,crustaceans and shellfish are in the area and how concentrated they are in the water. If they are not concentrated in patches, are not in large numbers in an area or do not move around seeking food, they are not usually good fishing targets, unless you can attract them into the traps and pots. Most bottom trapping and potting is carried out in reefy areas, where fish and other animals are concentrated by the reefs and rough bottom, either for protection or because of the presence of food. The use of other fishing methods such as gillnetting, and even more trawling, can be difficult on this reefy ground. The fish and crustaceans that you want to catch may live in burrows, bury themselves in the bottom sand or mud or hide under ledges. However, if they leave this protection at a certain time of the day or night to feed, mate or look for better hiding places, it is probable that you can make good catches. Remember, you can only make good catches if the traps and pots are attractive to the fish you want to catch. The choice of a bait that is preferred by your target is critical, as is placing the trap or pot where it can easily be encountered by targeted species.The species of fish, crustaceans and cephalopods caught inthe different regions of the world are often characteristic of those regions. Some types, however, are found in a wide range of marine and estuarine areas, for example snappers, sharks and squids. The more common fish, cephalopods and crustaceans that can be taken with pots or traps in the tropical, subtropical, temperate and colder regions of the world are described in this chapter. TROPICAL AREAS In tropical areas, shallow-water reef and estuarine fish and shellfish are commonly caught with traps and pots, although sometimes deep-water fish are also trapped (Figure 10). Most pots and traps used in the tropics have been designed for fishing in reefs, rocky areas and on the rough bottom. The fish, cephalopods and crustaceans taken include snappers, emperors, groupers, parrot fish, surgeon fish, squirrelfish, angelfish, tropical rock lobsters and others. Pot fishery is widespread in mangrove creeks and estuarine areas for various crabs (mud crabs, swimmer crabs, spanner crabs, etc.), adult prawns (mud shrimp, yellow shrimp, etc.) and a number of offshore shrimps. Various types of squid and octopus are also trapped in most tropical waters. SUBTROPICAL AND TEMPERATE AREAS Avariety of fish, cephalopods and crustaceans are taken with traps and pots from these waters, ranging from inshore types such as eels, terapons, wrasses, sea bass (barramundi), breams, croakers, rock lobsters and crabs and deeper water fish and shellfish such as snappers, grunts, trevallies, squid, octopus and prawns, hermit crabs and shrimp. In deep offshore waters pandalid shrimps, tilefish, zebra fish, etc. are taken (Figure 11).
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