Fishing Craft Technology

Unit 1 - History and development of fishing craft

1.2. Factors influencing in fishing craft development
The following factors are influencing the development of fishing craft.
i) Topographical factor:
It is evident that the geographical location of a country and even the region within that country for which a new type of mechanized fishing vessel is to be developed will have a considerable influence on the design. The broad geographical or climatic classification of the country such as tropical, subtropical or temperate will decide number of important features of the boat such as general arrangement, accommodation, ventilation and material.
Meteorological characteristics such as wind velocity, temperature, humidity, precipitation etc., also influences on the boat design. Countries with specific monsoon or other rain and storm should carefully examine the nature of fisheries that would be profitable during those seasons before designing boats for fishing in or through such seasons. Generally tropical and subtropical countries are border oceans, where the warmer salt water encourages electrolytic corrosion of ferrous metal surfaces and devasting attacks on timber surfaces by marine bores and fouling organisms.
Geography and hydrography of these areas have an important bearing on such characteristics as maximum draft. Prevalence and sea conditions such as wave length, sea waves, wave height, wind velocity, direction and tidal variations also influence design. Many places either have no natural shelters or harbours, construction is too expensive or water and current prevent such construction. In these places fishes are landed on the beach. Large and efficient beach landing boats have been designed.

ii) Geographical and physical influences:
Indian’s east coast is shelter less and surf beaten, the most commonly used craft is the “CATAMARAN” operating from open beach. Catamaran and other simple crafts have been evolved from these conditions along most of India’s east coast. In certain regions catamaran can be fitted with out- board engines. On surf beaten coasts with sheltered bays where wind conditions are favourable and fishing grounds are little further off shore, craft must be fast and able to negotiate swells and rough seas. The TUTICORIAN canoes are suitable.
Dugout canoes are the common craft where seas are not very rough most of the year and where fishes are abundant in shallow depth and in shore water. The evolution of the dugout is directly linked with geographical, wave, beach conditions and the availability of large and good qualities of timber (e.g. Kerala and Karnataka).
From Bombay to Ratnagiri the coast is generally rocky and has harbours, sheltered bays and creeks. Fishing grounds are distance. Here the SATPATI type of boat has developed and is considered one of the best fishing boat types. In the regions of great tidal variations and where large mud floats or coral beds are exposed the vessels are of shallow draft, but large enough to negotiate tidal currents. Along the Bombay coast, shallow water and sandy bottom, there is not a single sheltered fishing harbor, the estuaries are silting fast and fish resources are limited. Here MACHWA types are suitable.

iii) Distance and fishery:
Design is influenced by the distance of the fishing ground and whether the fishery is bottom, surface or pelagic. On the Indian West Coast abundant shoaling fishes occur near the coast and at surface and in mid- water. Here boat range is limited to inshore areas, speed and capacity are restricted. Later on these craft have been fitted with outboard engines to enable them to extend their range for catching good quality and large quantity fishes.
The fishing grounds on the South–East are a little further off shore. The design must reflect the speed with which the boats should reach and return from the grounds for marketing. Large boats are used on the North-West coast. The grounds are distant from the home parts. Fish hold capacity need not be large where fish are caught close inshore can be landed fresh. In area where grounds are distant and in the open sea or where fish must be processed at sea, boats much have adequate space for cleaning, salting, storing dried fish and fish products.

iv) Availability of boat building material:
When developing the fishing craft in different regions one of the primary considerations besides the geographical, physical and fishing conditions is the availability of suitable material for boat construction. The areas where sufficient and good quality timber is available, wooden boats are developed on such areas. Catamarans are found in areas where soft wood is available locally.

v) Harbour development:
As fishing becomes more intense the need arises for harbours with berthing, landing, distribution and servicing facilities to replace beach landing. Harbours can be developed only in certain places. These will be determined by their distance from fishing ground, their natural shelter, communication facility and other factors with harbours. The sizes and design of fishing boats could be increased and improved for large scale fishing. Such facilities normally lead to the development of standardized fishing boats for working different types of fisheries and in various grounds.