Systematics, Fishery, Resource Characteristics and Bionomics of ...

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on a daily basis from each harbour was enumerated based on visual
counts done during the four visits made in a month at each harbour. The
catch per unit of individual trawl net and species were computed following
Scariah et al. (1999). The effort in terms of fishing hours was worked out
on the basis on actual time spent for fishing (Anon, 1984).
5.3.1 Craft and gear
5.3. RE5UL T5
Deep sea prawns were exploited exclusively by trawl nets
operated from bottom trawlers constructed of either steel or wood coated
with fiberglass, measuring an Over All Length (loA) ranged between 48 to
72ft loA powered by 106-140Hp diesel engines. From Sakthikulangara
harbour, smaller crafts of 40-45ft LOA were also used for deep sea prawn
fishery, having an endurance of three days. The fleet strength of deep
sea prawn fishing is around 325 numbers at present, majority of them
(>50 ft loA) operating with their base at Munambum harbour (Table 5.1).
5.3.2 Facilities onboard
Almost all the boats at Munambum and around 80% of the boats
from Sakthikulangara and Cochin were equipped with hi tech devices
such as Global Positioning System (GPS) enabling to locate the vessel
position in the sea and to reach the identified fishing grounds during the