Trap fishing

  • Fishermen set indigenous fish traps in the reef areas or along the outer reef mainly for marine ornamental fishes. About 6–10 fishermen carry 20-25 traps in one vallam (a type of craft) and set them close to the reef, or between reef-covered areas.
  • To hide the traps in the reef, the fisher folk break off live coral, mostly massive corals, to cover them. The improper handling of traps during trap retrieval also leads to immediate destruction of branching corals like Acropora sp. and Montipora sp. or severely damages a portion of massive corals like Porites sp. or Favia sp.
  • With the use of these traps, reef dwelling herbivorous parrot fishes are caught widely,which in turn causes the proliferation of algae over live coral colonies, leading to coral mortality and also ecological imbalance.

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