Eel harvesting methods for eel farming

Since eel seedlings have not been artificially incubated so far, eel seedlings mainly rely on natural harvesting. From late December to March of the following year, it is the flood season for eel seedlings. Fishermen in Zhongshan and other places open their nets at the mouth of the Pearl River and catch them day and night at high and low tide.

Every year after winter, mature eels roam from the mouth of the Pearl River to a depth of 400 to 500 meters near Xisha and Nansha islands to lay eggs and breed into eels. The seedlings are willow-like, transparent and 10 cm long. After hatching, eels migrate to the inland rivers of the Pearl River Estuary through "long-distance tourism" to develop and grow. Since eels have not been artificially incubated so far, eel seedlings mainly rely on natural harvesting. From late December to March of the following year, it is the eel flood season. Fishermen in Zhongshan, Foshan and other places open nets at the mouth of the Pearl River day and night at the estuary. At present, the main methods of catching eel seedlings along the coast are:

Set-up nets use fixed-set nets to catch large-scale saplings. Most of the time, when the net is high at night, the net is set up in a wider and deeper river or by the sea, so that the eel enters the net with the current. Eel is usually caught during nighttime high ewell times. The output of the fixed net is high, but there are more dead seedlings, miscellaneous fish and garbage. If a seedling box that can float up and down with the water flow is connected at the tail end and the survival rate will be improved.

The triangular handwritten net commonly used in triangular handwritten nets is relatively light and simple in structure. Generally, two small bamboo poles with a length of 1.5 meters are used, crossed and put on polyethylene mesh cloth, that is, to form a triangular span. The operation of handwritten net is often operated by a single person within a depth of 1 meter along the river or shoal, illuminated by a handlight, and fished back and forth in the water. Due to the good quality and high survival rate of the eel fished by handwritten net, it is commonly used.

The plate mesh operation net is woven with polyethylene or nylon wire, square (generally 3 meters long and wide), the center is the mesh bag, the mesh is gradually encrypted from the edge to the center, and the smaller the mesh in the central area, the better. When using the elasticity of the small bamboo pole, open the four corners of the net, and then put it in the water near the sluice gate. People operate on the shore, and have a long-handled small cloth fishing net. When the net is about to leave the water, use a small fishing net to fish out the seedling eel in the net bag and put it in the seedling container you carry with you. This network is single-person operation, easy and flexible to use. Although the output is low, the eel seedlings are of good quality and the survival rate is high. You can hang flashlights, kerosene lamps or electric stone lamps under the plate pole to trap eel seedlings with light to improve the yield.

4. The tethering operation is similar to the net shape of a fixed net, but it is equipped with a tethered rope at the sleeve mouth and fished farther offshore. This kind of net can be tied with a wire rope and equipped with a 1 kilowatt electric motor to pull back and forth in front of the floodgate to catch the sapling. ( This article is selected from "Eel Breeding Supporting Technology")