THE UNGA FISHING METHOD NUMBER TWO - KUSEBESHA

Of the commercial fishing methods, ukusebesha is one of the most prominent. Ukusebesha simply means setting your nets and wait by. You normally wait near the nets such that after many fish have gilled, you remove it and set your nets again. The process can be repeated as many times as possible, depending on the type of fish and time of the day.

The most talked about type of ukusebesha method by most Researchers is that done in the evening and early in the morning concerning nocturnal Mormyridae kind of fish such as Marcusenius macrolepitodus (Mintensa) and Petrocephalus simus (Cise). What they call Ukusakila lupata (Ichikawa 1985 and Ichiro 1987) where you find a school of impata, set your net and drive them to it during the day is also termed as ukusebesha impata in Lunga.

To catch mintesa by this method, we first of all identify their hide-out which is almost always underneath a floating island (lufunsu) otherwise known as mukoma.  They will take cover in here during the day but will come out in the evening between 18:00 and 20:00 hours to forage. You may sometimes spot them during the day or hear them splash water during the evening.  We therefore set our nets around mukoma in anticipation of their movement.

We employ 1.5 inches mesh gillnets fitted with floaters and sinkers.  The distance between nets may be three to four meters. The nets can be as long as 100 yards and 26 meshes wide.  We will then wait by the nets with vigilance.

Between 21:00 hours and mid-night, it’s time to remove the fish from the nets. Depending on how much fish is gilled, we may undo the nets, untangle the fish and re-arrange the nets for the second round. Mintesa are known for struggling hard to come out of the net so much so that they complicate their tangle. As a result, it takes a lot of time and experience to untangle them and get the nets ready for the next dragnet.

The survivors of our initial set up will be returning to mukoma around 03:00 to 06:00 hours. We, therefore, re-set our nets before this time to maximize the catch for the morning round. Usually, we will be done by 02:30 hours and keep vigil over the nets. The same way of setting nets in layers, one after the other, is used. Mintesa moves in large schools such that when they gill in the first net, due to their combined weight, the nets will sink to the bottom leaving others in the series open. And so, the cycle will continue until all the nets are full. By 07:00 hours in the morning, we will be back at the fishing camp preparing the fish for drying. We either smoke or sun-dry them, depending on the circumstances and fish traders’ preferences at the time.

There are other reasons for keeping watch over the nets. Firstly, our camps may be far from mukoma which might make it imprudent to be going back and forth. Secondly, immediately we discern than there is no more inward or outward movement of fish, or enough has gilled, we need to start untangling it. Again, within mukoma, there could be fish eating predators that are always looking for some easy catch from the nets which, if left unhindered, will damage our nets. We need to scare and keep them away.

It’s not just mintesa that is caught through kusebesha.  Cise, latin or scientific name stated earlier, is also caught the same way. The only difference is the net’s size of mesh. Cise is smaller than Mintesa and so we use 0.5 inches (1.3cm) mesh.

 As you can see, Kusebesha method has additional motives, though the primary one is following the movement of the kind of fish we are interested in. 

Please do not ask me how much bodily sensation induced by mosquito bites we have to endure with this method. It’s immensely painful! This is translated into the higher price you pay for Mintesa than other small fish species.

We also do ukusebesha if we want to catch red-breasted tilapia, Mpende, and related breams during the day from their nests where they create burrows (imilindi) during their spawning period. These will not be in schools like Mintesa and Cise but are usually in pairs. When we see several nests that Mpende create by clearing grass and other aquatic vegetation around, in order to make burrows where they lay their eggs, we set our nets around them. Usually, we will use Kachala and Kusakila as explained in Mukombo method. Normally, you cannot have as much catch here as in Mintesa and Cise. This type of fish caught this way, is usually for our own consumption due to their huge size and taste.

That’s it for this method for now!

Until I come back with Amalalikisha and Amapiila methods.  Remember to leave your comments and subscribe by email to receive each post into your inbox by filling the space provided.

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