Scientists at the Fishing Technology Division of the Central Institute of Fisheries Technology here have developed a semi pelagic trawl system as an alternative to bottom trawling, which causes high impact on the sea bottom and also are non-selective.

Features

Christened as CIFT SPTS, this gear system has been developed and optimised taking into consideration the biological, behavioural and distribution characteristics of tropical demersal and semi-pelagic finfish and cephalopod resources and the technical capabilities of the small-scale mechanised trawler fleet, operating in Indian waters.

system

The system consists of a four panel semi-pelagic trawl with double bridles, front weights and vertically cambered high aspect ratio otter boards and semi-pelagic finfishes and cephalopods, which are generally beyond the reach of conventional bottom trawls, currently used in commercial trawl fisheries in the country.

CIFT SPTS with exchangeable codends is prescribed for harvesting non-shrimp trawl resources.

Minimising eco impact

One of the biggest challenges before modern fisheries, in recent times, is to minimise ecological and environmental impact of fishing, a release said.

Function

The technology was released for the benefit of the fishing industry by Dr B. Meenakumari, Deputy Director General (Fisheries), Indian Council of Agricultural Research, at a function organised at CIFT, attended by representatives from fisheries organisations, NGOs and fishing industry.

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