Indian Journal of Geo Marine Sciences Vol. 49 (08), August 2020, pp. 1405-1410 Karamadi - A waning practice of shore seine operation along Kerala, Southwest coast of India N M Lekshmi*, P H D Das & L Edwin ICAR-Central Institute of Fisheries Technology, Cochin, Kerala – 682 029, India *[E-mail: manjuaem@gmail.com] Received 28 March 2019; revised 09 December 2019 Shore seines are the age-old fishing gear in all the continents and are operated from the shore to encircle a school of fish in shallow waters. Operation of Karamadi or kambavala is a waning practice along the southwest coast of Kerala. The structure and design of this traditional gear has been poorly documented. The key aspects covered in this study include the documentation of design, operation and catch composition of shore seines. The presence of cod end with a funnel to prevent the catch escapement is a characteristic feature of this gear. Other significant features of Karamadi are the limited use of energy, low discards and bycatch and the use of bio-degradable materials in the fabrication of the gear. Technical improvements and the introduction of measures for the reduction of juvenile catches in shore seine are needed and this can lead to better sustainability and the management of fishery which is a source for livelihood of the traditional fisher folk in the southwest coast of India. [Keywords: Beach seine, Catch composition, Design, Kerala, Operation] Introduction Seine nets are rectangular shaped long nets with or without bag, operated with two long ropes, set either from the shore or from the boat for surrounding a certain area for targeting the coastal shoals. According to Brandt 1 , seine nets were used by Greeks in 3 rd millennium BC and Romans practiced a large gear ‘sagena’ occupied large territories of Europe and sagena was later introduced by them to many countries. Tietze et al. 2 classified the seine nets into two categories, beach seine/shore seine and boat seine (those with cod end and without cod end). Beach seines have been used for fishing, since several thousand years in all the continents 3 . They are set from the shore to surround a fish shoal in shallow coastal waters, and then hauled onto the shore. There are reports of shore seines that were used centuries back in the western and eastern coasts of India, encompassing the Malabar, Konkan and the Coromandel coasts. A decline in the use of shore seines have been reported from the Coromandel coast (Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh) and North Orissa 2 . In India, 2,227 numbers of shore seines were reported in different names and operated along east and west coasts of India (Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Goa, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and Kerala) 4 . FAO-Fisheries and Aquaculture Department conducted technical, socio-economic and environmental features and impacts of beach seining in India and other developing countries in 2011 (ref. 2) . Seines like Ayilakolli vala, Arakolli vala, Chooda vala, Disco vala, Deppa vala, Ring vala, Kudukku vala, Thangu vala, Kolli vala, Koru vala, Mathikolli vala, Paithu vala were operational in the southwest coast of India 5 . However, all these gears were totally replaced with the advent of ring seines in this region 6 . The mechanization was a revolt in the history of fisheries in India and this empowered the small scale fishers to go further and deeper in search of fish in the sea 6 . Karamadi/ kambavala, a shore seine, is perhaps the only gear in this category which has withstood the test of time 7 . The name signifies that, it is operated from the shore with rope. The continuing use of bio- degradable materials as the parts of the gear through decades is a characteristic feature of this gear. The limited use of fossil fuel adds to the ecofriendliness of this unique gear. There are limited reliable data on traditional seine fishing in India. Salagrama 8 opined that, for focussing and implementing the developmental programmes for shore seine fishing operations there should be a reliable database. The structure and design of this traditional gear has been poorly documented. This communication aims at documenting the design and fabrication of this brought to you by CORE View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk provided by NOPR