Suliansa (2000) and Komilus et al. (2000) both reported that most of the fishermen based on the islands use either hook and line (pancing) or gillnets as their preferred fishing method, and that the former is most popular. Other fishing gears used in the proposed Park include traps and spears in reef areas, with seine nets in open water. Explosives and poisons are still used by some fishermen.

Table 1. Types of fishing gear recorded in 1999 at various sites in the proposed Park (from Suliansa, 2000).

1.8.1. Hook and line

Hook and line gear: can be used in a wide range of configurations, is cheap to make and effective in its operation. Simple hand lines using pieces of squid or fish for bait are widely used in reef areas by all communities to catch fish such as grouper (Serranidae), bream (Nempiteridae), red snapper (Lutjanidae), rabbitfish (Siganidae) and trevally (Carangidae). Octopus and squid are also caught with hook and line, baited with a lure. Fish mostly caught by hook and line off the reef include little tuna (Scombridae).

Longlines: these consist of a main line with hooks set on short sidelines. They may be set near the surface for pelagic fish such as tuna or on the seabed for demersal species such as sharks. The marine resource survey (Suliansa, 2000) recorded one pelagic long line and two demersal long lines being operated within the proposed Park (Table 2).

Trolling lines: these lines are towed (trolled) behind boats to catch pelagic species such as mackerel and tuna. They are fitted with lures designed to attract the fish to ‘take the bait’.

Table 2. Types of fishing lures commonly used in the proposed Park (from Suliansa, 2000).

1.8.2. Stationary nets

These nets are held vertically in the water by floats attached to their upper edge and weights along the lower edge. They may either be anchored in shallow water or set to drift in the open ocean.

Gill nets: these are made of almost invisible monofilament nylon strands, can be deployed in various situations and have different mesh sizes according to the size of fish being targeted. They are very size selective (but not species selective) because capture relies on fish being trapped behind its gills within the mesh. Very small fish evade being caught by swimming through the mesh, and larger ones also escape because they are too big to enter the mesh. This is only the case if the net is stretched so that the fish are ‘gilled’ – if it is slack they become tangled, and some nets (tangle nets) are deliberately used in this way (King, 1995).

Around the Semporna Islands, gill or drift nets (Malay: pukat) are used quite extensively around the reefs. In deeper water, large weights are placed at either end of the base of the drift net (salivud) with smaller ones between, and there are floats along the top. In shallower water a narrower gill net is used and is hung off two posts which fix the net in place (Piper, 1980). Fish caught by gill net include emperors (Lethrinidae), rabbitfish (Siganidae) squaretail alligator gar (Belonidae), crab (Portunidae) and lobster (Panuliridae) (Komilius et al. 2000).

Trammel nets: these are made from a panel of small-mesh net sandwiched loosely between panels of larger-mesh net. The nets are set in the same way as gill nets, but catch a much larger size range of fish by entangling rather than gilling them (King, 1995). Fish coming into contact with the middle panel of small mesh netting are prevented from breaking free by the outer panels of larger mesh netting. Trammel nets are fairly widely used in the proposed Park.

Surrounding or seine nets: Seine nets do not snag the fish, but are used to surround and concentrate them before they are hauled out. Some seine nets are operated from beaches, such as the sensuro net used by the Bajau Laut (Piper, 1981) which is pulled by hand from the back reef to the shore. The commonest type of seine net in use in the Semporna area is the purse seine, which is set out from boats and used to surround pelagic fish such as tuna, mackerel, sardines and scads. Lift nets (selambau, bagang) are also used in the proposed Park, with anchovies (mainly Stolephorus and Engraulis) and other small pelagics the main target species (Buising, 1996).

Trawl nets (pukat tunda) are towed through mid-water or along the seabed to catch fish or invertebrates (mainly shrimp). There are various designs, but all are open at one end and closed at the other, where the catch is trapped and concentrated. Much of the proposed Park is unsuitable for demersal trawling because the reefs snag and damage the gear.

1.8.3. Traps

Traps are designed to encourage the entry of animals, which are then prevented from escaping because of the design of the trap.

Static traps

Static traps used in the area may be referred to as ‘fish stakes’, bungsud (Bajau) or kilong (Bahasa Malaysia). They consist of poles driven into the seabed and arranged in a series of V-shapes that lead into the final enclosure from which the fish cannot escape. The normal bungsud catch is an unpredictable assortment of species. If only a few fish are caught, a man enters the final enclosure and retrieves them using a speargun or pronged spear. If large numbers of fish enter the enclosure a net is used to collect them (Piper, 1981). These traps are usually attended to every 2-3 days. There were three in the proposed Park at the time of the marine resource survey (Suliansa, 2000).

Moveable traps
There are moveable crab traps (bintur, panggal) and fish traps (bubu), made either from bamboo or rattan. These are baited and set in likely places such as the reef top and upper slope, often weighted down with pieces of coral. The main target species are coral fishes such as grouper and seagrass bed species such as rabbit fish. They are quite widely used within the proposed Park, although the numbers used and the frequency they are deployed is unknown.

1.8.4. Spear fishing

Various types of spear (Serapang Bajau; serampang: Malay) are used around the Semporna Islands – they have different names depending for example on the size and number of prongs. Hafts for the small, handheld spears are usually made from bamboo as wood is too heavy. The prongs are steel.

A variety of names are used to describe these spears - the following names come from Piper (1980), Baptist et al. (1998) and Suliansa, (2000).

Tilok (tiluk): wooden spear
Sangkil: small spear with single steel point, used to catch crabs or sea-cucumbers
Bujak: large spear
Pogol: spear with 2 prongs
Selobang, serapang, salubang or sapang: spear or harpoon with 3 steel points
Sulayang: spear with 4 prongs
Sulikit: spear with 6 or 8 prongs
Panah, pahali: home made spear gun used to spear fish while diving
Sangkir or sangkalia: a big harpoon used for large fish.

Spear fishing is usually done at night when the fisherman punts across the back reef with a pressure lamp on the prow illuminating fish for spearing (Piper, 1981). Rays are often caught in this manner.

1.8.5. Poisons

Tuba laut (Derris elliptica or D. trifoliata). This fish stupefacient is a root which is crushed and inserted into a hole in rocks or coral. As the juices ooze out, fish are killed indiscriminately. The extent to which it is still used is unknown. Another poison sometimes used is from a fruit brought over from the Philippines known as lagtang (Arcangelisia flava) (Piper, 1981; Guntavid and Galaip, 1998). With the tuba, fish have to be caught swiftly because they will recover after a few minutes. However, fish intoxicated with lagtang will normally never recover (Guntavid and Galaip, 1998).