Bamboo stake trap

              The term ‘bamboo stake trap’ includes a variety of rather large and complex stationary fishing gears used in coastal waters up to 20 meters depth.  A common characteristic of all such gears, irrespective of size, is that they consist of three parts: leaders, playground and cod-end.  Leaders, whose purpose is to guide the fish in to the trap, are made of bamboo stakes, netting or branches.  There are 2-5 leaders in a set. Their length varies from 10 to 800 meters, depending on the size of trap.  The leaders guide the fish into the playground, which is a C-shaped or triangular enclosure constructed of bamboo or wooden stakes driven into the sea bed, with or without the polyethylene netting cover.  The exit from the playground takes the fish into the cod-end, from where they are scooped or otherwise removed.  The cod-end is semicircular, with a bamboo or palm-tree stake frame and polyethylene or chicken-wire netting.  A funnel-shaped, no-return entrance prevents the fish from escaping.  Some cod-ends have a part which can be hauled, to collect the catch.

              Bamboo stake traps are usually positioned so that their main leader (the longest one) is perpendicular to the shore, and the opening of the trap faces the current at the ebb-tide.

              According to the method of operation, bamboo stake traps can be classified as follows:

                     - Ebb-tide bamboo stake trap,
                     - Bamboo stake trap with net operation, and
                     - Bamboo stake trap with a removable bag-net.

              The ebb-tide bamboo stake trap is a small-scale gear, usually set on a sand-bar at the mouth of a river, in up to 5 m water depth.  The leaders are 10-400 m long, made of polyethylene netting.  The play-ground is from 2.5 x 4 to 8 x 10 m large.  The size of the cod-end is between 1.5 x 2.5 and  2 x 3 m.  Both the playground and the cod-end are covered with polyethylene netting.  The height of the trap is 3 to 5 meters.  The catch. Which includes shrimps, cuttlefish, anchovies and trash-fish, is taken out by a scoop-net daily at spring-tide and once every few days at neap-tide.  Sometimes a luring lamp is used at the cod-end to attract shrimps and squid.  The gear is found in Samut Sakhon, Samut Songkhram and Krabi provinces.

              The bamboo stake trap with net operation is a large-scale gear, used in coastal waters with 5-20 m depth.  It has four or five bamboo stake leaders, 100-300 m long.  There is a small playground (this is sometimes omitted) and a large cod-end, between 16 x 25 to 25 x 40 m in size, covered with polyethylene netting and chicken-wire netting at the bottom.  A rectangular purse-seine is used for fishing operation.  This net has 8 mm mesh-size, nylon 210 d/5 rachel netting.  A long pole serves to push the net so that it surrounds the fish in the cod-end.  The net operation is carried out twice daily, at high and low tide.  The catch consists mainly of Indo-Pacific mackerel, anchovies, pony-fish, croakers and trash-fish.  The gear used to be very popular in the past, and can still be found at Leam Than in Chon Buri province.

              The bamboo stake trap with a removable bag-net is the largest stationary trap.  Its construction differs from the bamboo stake trap with net operation only in the cod-end.  In the present case, the cod-end is a C-shaped enclosure made of coconut tree-trunks, and a removable bag-net is set in the cod-end.  The size of the cod-end is 30 x 50 meters.  Four bamboo stake leaders, 700-750 m long, stretch between the shore and the playground of the net.  The playground covers an area of 30 x 40 m, and the funnel-shaped entrance to the cod-end is 2.5 m wide.  The trap is set at about 10-20 meters depth.  The bag-net, which is made of 10 mm mesh-size rachel netting, is hung inside the cod-end enclosure in such a way that its upper edge is fastened to the top of the poles and its bottom edge is held down by ropes passing through pulleys at the bottom of each pole.  At the entrance to the cod-end, the net is stretched on six bamboo poles by means of 10-15 iron rings and weighted down with cement sinkers.  The bag net with catch is lifted when required.  The catch are anchovies, Indo-Pacific mackerel, squid etc.  The fishing season is between April and January, in waters off Samut Sakhon and Samut Songkhram.