Design aspects of Rampan Nets of Ratnagiri, Maharashtra State, India

Rampan (Beach seine) is an ancient traditional gear operated in Ratnagiri and is artisanal in marine fisheries sector of Ratnagiri that has helped the traditional fishermen to counter the marginalization of the large sector to a certain extent. The rampan comes under the class of semi-circular active gears by encircling the fish shoal and have been used by small scale fishermen from the beginning of the 20th century. The most famous beach seine is the Rampani net, introduced on the South Canara coast by a priest called Father Rampani or Rampini. The main body of webbing is attached to selvedges along the top and bottom edges and the top in turn being attached to the float-line while the bottom to the sinker line. Seine nets are operated in sea, rivers, reservoirs, lakes, estuaries and backwaters wherever the bottom is smooth and almost flat and is generally operated near the shore. Therefore, in present study an attempt was made to document the variations observed with respect to design, material, net dimensions, mesh size, considering the objective with respect to different types, design features and method of operation operated in Ratnagiri.