CHINESE NETS

The Chinese nets, locally called as “Cheena Vala,” undoubtedly, came from China. There is an adage that these nets were introduced by the later Casado settlers of Cochin from Macau, a former Portuguese Colony, at present an independent Province of China. Chinese fishing net is an installation fixed on land or shallow waters and has at least 10 m height and comprises a cantilever with outstretched horizontal net, of around 10 meters each on all the four sides with a wide mouth and having a tapering end, which is suspended over the Vembanad ‘Kayal.’ A few large granite stones, each having a side length of 30 cm. are suspended from ropes of different lengths as counter-weights at the other end. Each installation is lifted and operated by a team of up to five fishermen. As the net is raised by pulling on the ropes, the granite stones suspended one by one come to rest on a platform thereby keeping every installation in balance.

The names of the different parts of the Chinese net used even today are the loan words from Portuguese language, which is a definite indication of its Portuguese introduction. The net used for catching fish is called “rede”, its edge is “borda”, the arms of wooden parts which hold the extensive net together is “brasao”, while the flexible ring on the top on which the entire brasao moves is “argola.” In addition there are “corda” and “pedra” for balancing the movement of the net. There is “caluada” on which the fishermen move up and down and the posts which support the entire structure from the lake bottom are called “odora.” They also brought here “Cheena-Chatti” (Chinese frying pan), “Cheena-Veli” (Chinese decorative fencing made of Bamboo reapers), “Cheena-Bharani” (Chinese earthen pots or jars) and “Chinese-Otams” tiny canoes.) [Now the market is flooded with Chinese goods like – cycles, mosquito-bats, telephones, other electronic goods and clothes and parasols.]

I was aware that ‘Thakkom’, is a reasonable or favourable time depending on the movement of moon, which lasts for six to seven days commencing from ‘Ekadasi’ of the Malayalam calendar, for trapping fish in Chinese nets as well. At twilight, Prabhakaran, Achu and others in my neighbourhood would hook their petro-max lamps on kerosene at the center of their Chinese nets. We watched the spectacular sights of hundreds of such lights hooked on to the Chinese nets to attract the fish and trap them in. The net was then submerged into the ‘Kayal’. The net is left for a short time, possibly just a few minutes, when a shoal of fish would enter the net, it is raised by pulling on ropes quickly, and one of the fishermen would walk along the main beam and would remove the freshly caught fish with a ball net. We could watch the casting of nets and the water cascading through their nets as they lifted it from the backwaters. On ‘Chakara’ days their Chinese nets were full with crustaceans like ‘Naran Chemmen’ (Prawns), ‘Konchu,’ Big Freshwater Prawn. They used to get fish like ‘Kanambu’ (Mullet), ‘Thirutha’, (Port.tagana or tainha) ‘Narimeen’ or  ‘Chela-Kora’ or Kalanchi, (Asian Seabars;) ‘Poomeen’(Milk Fish), ‘Pranjeen’ (Filamented Silver biddy), Thirutha’ (Stripped Mullet), ‘Vatta’  (Shrimp Scads), Catla, and other small fish like ‘Mullan’ (Bony fish), ‘Nandan’ (Glassy Perch let), ‘Kozhuva’ (White Bait), a very small fish. This was a sight to behold. On these occasions due to the weight of the fish they were unable to lift it and afraid that the net might give way, someone had to go into the ‘Kayal’ on a canoe to take out the fish with a ball net. Those days they used to get three to five thousand rupees on a ‘Chakara’ day. Half of it would go to the owner of the Chinese net and the rest was shared by the people who were engaged in pulling up the net. The fish obtained in this manner was very fresh and they stayed alive for some time. We, the Islanders are able to determine the difference in taste of the curries made with this fresh fish and the fish which is kept fresh by stacking it with ice. The former is the one on popular demand.

During the night, the picturesque sight of a line of Chinese nets by the side of the shore with lighted petromax hooked on them looked amazingly beautiful.

Chinese fishing nets have been in use for the last 500 years and it is one of the tourist attractions in the delta regions at Kochi and Kollam in Kerala. Chinese nets are fast vanishing from the Kochi region as huge maintenance costs, prohibitive labour and poor catch are forcing fishermen to look for other alternatives.

Excerpts from

MEMOIRS

An autobiography

by

Joseph J. Thayamkeril

Lawyer, Kochi, Kerala, India.

josephjthayamkeril.blogspot.com

josephjthayamkeril@gmail.com