Sua Fish
Seasonal variation in fish occurs and is important to document these changes in order to understand seasonal fishing patterns in the present as well as the past.
Slides by William R. Belcher, participant in HARP (Harappa Archaeological Research Project)
Fish traps
Another type of fishing method seen in the Punjab was a type of conical fish trap. The trap was a multi-leg frame covered with a net.
Sting Ray
While not usually used for food, sting-rays, sharks, and skates are important to the fishing industry itself. The livers are harvested by specialists in the village who boil them down to make a thick, malodorous oil.
Monsoonal Flooding and Oxbow Lakes
The River Ravi is a meandering river that travels back and forth across its alluvial plain leaving a series of landscape scars of old river channels.
Crabs in Basket
Crabs and other crustaceans are caught and used as a minor food item. These animals are considered extremely "hot" and are eaten for the treatment of ailments such as the flu or colds.
Getting the Fish to Market
Most of the fisher folk have a low-tech way of getting the fish to the market – primarily burlap bags and a bicycle. Often the fish are sold to passers-by as the fisher folk will have a scale to weigh the fish in kilograms.
Knitting Net
Mornings are usually spent fishing while afternoons are spent repairing nets. Although most nets are now commercially manufactured, repair work is down by the owners or their sons. Fishermen work in groups, either helping each other are larger nets.
Fish Markets
The main fish markets near the modern village of Harappa were within the village itself as well as the District market in the local District center, Sahiwal.
Fisher Folk – Baba Yaqoob
One of my main informants in Harappa Town was an elderly man named Baba Yaqoob. He was retired at the time during the mid-1990s, while his sons worked their land as well as a vegetable stand on the western side of Harappa.
Fisherman with net
The main fish protein source focuses on smaller fish that are caught in the inshore area. One of the main methods used to catch these is a casting net.