Slides in full or partial color.
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.
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.
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.
The older nets that were observed in the Punjab had net weights that were made of fired clay, while the modern ones used standard lead net weights.
Seine nets are the dominant net used to harvest fish in the oxbows. Again, the “eye” or mesh size of the net is controlled by the Punjabi government, but allow the oxbows to be harvested through a series of sweeps across the entire body of water.
One of the main methods of catching fish is using casting or throw nets. The mesh size (or “eye”) is currently controlled by fisheries laws by the Punjab Province. However, mesh size will vary depending on the target species of fish.
Spiny eels are relatively uncommon in the archaeological record and within the general diet of the Punjabi folk. These fish also can survive in extremely environments in soft mud with little water.
While this fish is common in the archaeological deposits, Wallago attu and Rita rita are the most common. However, this fish, locally known as Goonch is one of the largest catfish known in Asia.
The following slides are related to certain species of riverine catfish, including the families Siluridae, Bagridae, and Sisoridae.
