The fishing techniques that are currently in use amongst the fishermen of Bangladesh have been categorized into netting, angling, trapping, spearing, de-watering and hand picking. At present, a total of 91 gears under 12 broad categories have been found to be in use amongst the fishermen in different types of waterbodies of the country (Ahmad, 1954, Doha 1965, Chong 1979, Tsai and Ali 1985, BCAS 1989, Moula et al. 1993 and CIDA 1993). The gears so far recorded have been listed in the Appendices (1-9) detailing particulars of 28 gill nets, 21 seine nets, 8 drag and bag nets, 8 lift nets, 5 clasp, cast and push nets, 6 hooks and lines, 5 traps and 5 spears/harpoons. Particulars of 5 specialized fishing methods have also been highlighted in the Appendix 9. However, a brief description of the newly recorded gears are given in the following chapter.
