Inland Fisheries

8.2.2.1 Fishing by hunting

Spear is the earliest weapon employed by man and still in use to-day in many parts of the world. Besides spears, harpoons, lance, rake and rifles are used to catch large-sized fishes like Bagarius, Wallago, Pangasius, Mystus when seen trapped in shallow channels, irrigation channels, inundated fields, bundhies etc. during monsoonic floods. A ‘Spear’ tip is fitted on a bamboo shaft of 1.50 to 2.0 m and operated by throwing on the target from a boat or standing on the bank. The harpoon has a shaft of about 3 m long to one end of which is attached a barbed iron point (single or double) of about 20 cm long. The rake is a highly specialized weapon consisting of a long and thin blade at each end (look like a double-bladed oar)