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POMP ANG (Bag-net) FISHERIESIN PENANG

LAM WAH CHANG(Fisheries Division)

MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENTMALAYSIA

POMPANG (Bag-net) FISHERIESIN PENANG

LAM WAH CHANG(Fisheries Division)

1975MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT

MALAYSIA

CONSTRUCfION

(a) Supporting structure(b) The Net(c) Operation of the net

(a) Capital expenditure

(b) Operating expenditure

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The pompang fishery originated from the Gombang fishery. The gombang* was usedby fishermen as far back as 1932 and operated in waters 2-3 fathoms deep. Gradually,through experience they modified and improved on the gear which enabled fishingoperations in waters as deep as 12-14 fathoms. This modified gear came to be knownas the pompang.

In Penang, the porn pang fishery started in a small area adjacent to Pantai Achehbefore the Second World War. As more fishermen were attracted to this type of fisheryand as the number of pompang increased, conflicts arose between the pompang, thedrift-net and the ambai (fishing stakes) fishermen. The ambai fishermen complained ofporn pangs operating too near to their ambais while pompang fishermen complained ofdrift-netters cutting loose their bamboo floats in an attempt to free their nets.

In spite of demarcating areas for p0111pangs, drift-nets and ambais, there were constantcomplaints of encroachments into each others area. However, in 1964, the ambaifishermen were forced to change to pompang fishing because of declining catches. Afurther and more serious problem arose with the legalising of trawling in Penang in1963. Even though trawlers were then required to operate in waters more than 12 milesfrom the shore or more than 15 fathoms deep whichever was further, they oftenencroached into restricted areas. The pompang fishermen were then forced to operatein waters less than 10 fathoms deep. In 1971 the Fisheries Law was amended allowingtrawlers to operate in waters more than 7 miles from shoTe. To escape damage to theirgears, the pompang fishermen had to operate within 5 miles from the shore in watersless than seven fathoms deep (Figure 1).

The site selected has a soft even bottom and fairly strong tidal currents. Supportingstructures called anchor piles are piled into the sea-bed at approximately 12 fathomsapart. Anchor piles are bakau poles 10 feet long and 6 inch thick in diameter. Oneend is pointed so that it can be easily driven into the sea-bed. About 8 inches downfrom the upper end, is nailed a piece of rectangular block measuring 8 inches long andwith a cross-section of 2" X 2". This is to prevent the mooring line spliced beneaththe block from slipping out after the anchor pile is driven into the sea-bed (Figure 2).

A special structure is constructed to do the piling. It consists of a pile-driver and aguide pole. The length of the pile-driver is dependent on the depth of water in whichthe net is to be operated. Usually it is 2 fathoms more than the depth of water at site.For example, for 7 fathoms of water, the pile-driver would have to be 9 fathoms inlength. A 2 feet long iron pipe 0.25 inch or more thick with a diameter of about 10inches and weighing 40 katies acts as the hammer of the pile-driver. This hammer isfirmly bound to the pile-driver (Plate 1, Figure 2). The guide pole is about 10-12 feetin length and 2 inches in diameter. One foot from the upper end of the guide pole,there is a guide pole peg driven through it. This peg is 10 inches long with a cross-section of 0.1" X 2.0". Before the anchor pile is lowered into the sea-bed, the guidepole is slipped through the hammer and is lightly lashed to the anchor pile above thepile peg. The guide pole is to guide the pile driver during piling operation.

With the mooring line spliced round the anchor pile below the pile peg, the pilingoperation then begin. First the anchor pile is lowered to touch the sea bottom; it isthen pushed into the sea-bed. When it is reasonably steady, it is then driven intothe sea-bed with the pile driver until the pile peg is just at or under the surface of thesea-bed. Then the pile-driver and the guide pole are withdrawn leaving the anchor pilewith one end of the mooring line embedded and the other end buoyed with a float.

The net made of local green polyethene material has a total length of 70 feet fromthe tip of the wing to the cod-end. Headline length is 53 feet. When fully opened bythe flow of current the mouth will have a vertical opening of about 18 feet and thewhole net takes the shape of a cone (Figure 3). The wings are short and are about60 feet apart when fully opened.

The net plan in Figure 4 shows that the net is constructed using 14 different piecesof netting of different or similar mesh sizes joined together. Mesh sizes decreases from6" at the wings to 0.2" at the cod-end. The wings and the first three pieces of the netare braided by hand. Twine size for the wings and the first three pieces of net are of27 ply while the rest (except the cod-end which is made of knotless material) are of 9ply. One peculiarity in the net construction is that tapering is achieved by joiningsuccessively smaller pieces of cylindrical netting together and not by cutting as for theconstruction of a trawl net. Hence two or more pieces of the same mesh size arejoined together, for example, E and F (Figure 4) rather than using just one bigger piece.Examination of the net showed that only certain panels of the net are slightly taperedwith 1 point 2 bars and certain sections like D are not tapered but with points only.Tapering for A, B and C are by baiting. Each panel of net in the body is joinedtogether at the edges to form a cylindrical piece. This panel is then joined to the nextcylindrical piece and the next until the cod-end. This is unlike the construction of thetrawl net where the upper panel is laced to the under panels at the sides.

The fishermen do not follow a standard design in the construction of the net butrather approximate in achieving the desired shape. Since this gear does not have towithstand any considerable strain, e.g., as in trawl net, their traditional method ofconstructing the net has been found to be adequate. Braiding by hand of the wings andthe first three pieces of the net and the joining of two or more pieces of net materialof the same mesh size is very time consuming.

The net has to be set such that it faces the tidal current which forces the mouth open(Plate 2, Figure 3). It is hung on three floats. One float each is tied to the point wherethe mooring bridles join the head rope of the net on each side with a length of rope.The third float is tied to the centre of the head rope with a length of rope. The lengthof rope is dependent on the depth of water. For 7 fathoms of water, the centre one is4 fathoms long whilst the sides are 3 fathoms long. The centre float is a bamboo pole(Plate 3) but plastic floats are used for the sides.

Usually the mooring bridles are 3 fathoms in length. At each lower end where themooring bridle joins the net is a lead-weight of 0.6 Kgm. (1 kati). To weigh down thenet, granite stones are used (Plate 3). At the centre, stones weighing approximately10.9 Kgm. (18 katies) and at the two wings of the net, stones of about 6 Kgm. (10katies) are used. Joining the mooring bridles to the anchor pile is the mooring line.Length of mooring line is again dependent on depth of water. For 7 fathoms depth,8 fathoms length is required.

Since this gear is only used when tidal currents run, fishing is limited to the twoperiods of Spring Tides of 7 to 8 days each in every lunar month. According to thelunar calendar, fishing days are from the 27th or 28th up to the 4th or 5th; and from12th or 13th to 21st or 22nd. The catch is collected before the change of tidal currents.During the non-fishing period, the mooring bridle and floats are removed together withthe net and the 12 fathoms "keeper" line is used to join the mooring lines together.Since 8 nets are usually used in one pompang unit and the nets are set in a straightline about 10 fathoms apart, 15 pieces of "keeper" lines are required. The "keeper"line is used not only to tie up the mooring line but also to join the tied up mooringline of one net to another. At the onset of the next fishing period the "keeper" line isrecovered with a grapnel and the mooring lines are tied back to the mooring bridlesfor fishing operations. The fishermen uses only a small boat with 4 Hp. outboard enginein the fishing operations (Plate 4).

PLATE 3. Bamboo Floats (on the righQ.Granite Stones used as Weights (on the left).

a. Capital expenditure

1. Supporting structure and equipmentA pompang fisherman usually possesses:1. A pile driver2. A guide pole3. Sixteen anchor piles @ $1.80 each4. A boat 19' X 7' 3" X 2' 2" ...5. Outboard 4 Hp engine ...6. Fifteen "keeper" lines for operating 8 nets ...

$ 52.00

0.60

28.80

550.00

450.0020.00

2. Cost of a net ready for fishing operation:1. One net ...2. Two plastic floats @ $2.20 each3. One bamboo float4. Mooring line and bridle line5. Foot ropes and head rope6. Lead-weights7. Rope for floats

Total for a set of 8 nets

(It is reported that it is not profitable to operate less than 8 nets.)

$ 202.004.40

1.00

10.00

26.001.50

5.00

$ 249.90

$1,999.20

Usually no cost is involved in construction of the nets and the piling becaU$e thefishermen usually do it themselves with the help of family members or friends.

The only operating expenditure is the operating expenses for the 4 hp outboardengine. Usually the fishermen use petrol to start their engine, after which they switchon to kerosene mixed with cylinder oil. For every gallon of kerosene the fishermenmix 2! condensed milk tins of cylinder oil.

The catch, composition and value of pompang fisheries 1974 were taken from PulauBetong fishing village. These dates were copied from the blackboard in the house of theboat owner who is obliged to do so traditionally.

CATCH, COMPOSITION AND VALUE OF POMPANG FISHERIES OFPULAU BETONG

SquidsMonth Boats and Prawns Trash Total

Cuttlefish fish Value

January 1974 .. 16 216 25,498 42,840 $22,172.00

February 1974 .. 25 335 18,095 66,840 17,250.10

March 1974 22 458 22,314 35,930 19,425.20

April 1974 21 532 21,562 49,995 19,408.00

May 1974 22 427 16,169 41,530 14,724.50

June 1974 16 208 15,027 37,485 13,583.40

July 1974 17 292 11,240 22,205 9,967.80

August 1974 21 549 18,688 31,075 16,558.10

September 1974 16 321 12,890 23,410 11,344.70

October 1974 .. 31 987 21,795 63,865 20,286.70

November 1974 31 743 15,200 89,285 15,900.70

December 1974 24 465 7,633 21,588 7,109.42

The statistics shown in Table 1 indicate that on the average 65% of the catch wastrash fish.

Prawn caught are usually Parapenaeopsis coromandelica, Parapenaeopsis afJinis,Metapenoeus brevicornis, Metapenaeus mutatus and Parapenaeopsis hardwickii. Prawnsthat are usually converted to dried prawns are small size Parapen£le0psiscoromandelica,Metapenaeus mutatus, Metapenaeus lysianassa and Solerwcera sublJuda. Ten pikuls ofprawns after cooking and drying will give only 1 pikul of dried prawns.

Sepia species, Loligo species and crabs (Portunus pelagicus) were caught in smallquantities.

Trash fish caught consisted mostly of small Leiognathidae, Siganidae, Pomadasyidae,Scaenidae, Gobidae, Ambassidae, Trypauchenidae, Engraulidae and Squilla species.Trash fish caught are generally classified as good trash fish for production of fish meal.

Usually the value of the catch is divided between 3 fishermen. Two fishermen go to thesea for setting the net and collecting of the catch while the third man is shore-basedfor sorting the catch. He is usually the son or relative of the boat owner and is alsoresponsible for the preparation of dried prawns.

Forty per cent of the gross value goes to the boat owner who is responsible for themaintenance of the boat, the engine, fuel and the transporting of the catch to the market.The remaining 60% is then divided into 3 shares of which one share goes to the boatowner only if he is an owner-operator.

An analysis of the data in Table 1 shows that the boat owner would have receivedon the average, $255.00 per month, or $382.00 if he is an owner-operator. The crewwould have received $127.00 per month.

The author wishes to thank Tengku Ubaidillah bin Abdul Kadir, the Director Generalof Fisheries, Malaysia, for his encouragement and permission to publish this paper;Mr D. Pathansali, Director of Fisheries Research for his advice, guidance and usefulcomments; Mr Tan Yew Siang for assistance in the collection of the statistics andMr Khoo Jin Cheng for technical data on the net.

Gombang nets are hung on bakau poles set vertically in the sea-bed in 2-3 fathoms ofwater. The four corners of the net are tied to iron or rattan rings. The lower 2 ringsare pushed down with a pole and the upper 2 are lowered to the desired level. Thislevel is controlled by a length of rope tied to the rings and joins the two poles about1 foot above the water level. The top of the net is just under the waterline.

Gombang fishermen usually have rows of poles at many points in the sea and usethem alternately, i.e., they fish using one row of poles one day and another row atanother point another day.

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