'Dol' net fisheries of the Saurashtra coast

Abstract

In this communication an attempt has been made to give an overall view of the 'dol' net fishery of the S a u r a s h t r a Region of Gujarat. The method of 'dol' net operation, fishery, conditions and other factors prevailing in the three major landing centres namely Nawabunder, Rajpara and Jaffarabad are dealt with based on regular observations carried out during September 1995 to August 1997. 'Dol' nets are fixed bagnets which are tied to the poles or ropes anchored at the sea bottom and kept afloat by floats.In the Saurashtra coast heaps of stones are used as anchors. Nawabunder landing centre has a well constructed concrete jetty projecting into the sea. At Rajpara around 240 'dol' net units were under operation out of which 100 numbers were three netters and the rest two netters. At Jaffarabad about 280 'dol' netters were under operation out of which 60 were four netters. Bombay duck formed more than 50 % of the catch in all the three centres except in Nawabunder (44 %). The non-penaeids, formed more than 15 % of the catch at all the centres. Among the non-penaeids, Acetes spp. was the dominant one. These species alone formed about 15 % at Nawabunder. At Rajpara t h i s group formed about 13 % and at Jaffarabad about 11 %. The gold spotted anchovy (Coilia dussumeri) is also an important group landed in 'dol' nets. This group formed around 8 % In the dol net catches at all the centres. The peak season for Bombay duck was October to December at all landing centres and catches were poor during the monsoon months. But for non- penaeids and gold spotted anchovy the main season was March to May, and the catches were more during 1996-'97 than 1995- '96. The main season for the gold spotted anchovy was between December and March.