| Abstrakt: |
Tribes residing in various parts of the world still use the traditional knowledge gained from their ancestors for the collection of wild and natural food. These techniques are usually simple and effective. It is essential to document the traditional knowledge (TK) of the tribes before these techniques get completely vanished. Wayanad district, in the North-East of Kerala, India, has the largest population of aborigine people and there are many tribal groups in this area. Fishes were found to be the major and easily available animal food source for them. Among the major tribal groups, mostly kurumans are involved in fishing activities. Fishing is associated with their marriage, death and important festivals. The present study is an attempt to list out the various traditional fishing gears of kuruman tribes of Wayanad district. A detailed survey was carried out in the selected tribal settlements of Wayanad district using unstructured questionnaire, among various age and gender groups. The results ratified that traps were the major fishing device of kurumans. Besides traps, simple gill nets, cast nets and lines are other fishing gears of this community and there was no craft based fishery. Study also revealed that fishing had significant role in their customs and important ceremonies, like marriage, death etc. Tribes agreed that fish availability was drastically reduced due to various anthropogenic activities, such as check dam construction for irrigation, and uncontrolled used of chemical pesticide in the agricultural field. They were also aware of need for conservation of fishery resources and the ecosystem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
