You may be surprised to hear about the use of this flower to catch one of the most delicious and prized fish in the ocean. This is a small review about how fishermen used this flower to catch one of the most delicious fish in the sea.
Maldivians were innovative in developing diverse methods to catch different types of fish in the sea, particularly those that are difficult and unpredictable. They used the fewest resources available to create tools for survival.
In early days, fishermen of Fuvahmulah used banana spathes as a lure for fishing wahoo. They use around three to four spats. Large, brightly coloured, spirally arranged, boat-shaped spathes, known as spathes, protect the flowers.
Hook sizes of around three to four are normally used with these spats that are layered. During the early days also, they used stainless steel wire of around two to four feet to connect the hook to the main fishing line.
When the sea was calm, the fishermen used hafaali dhoani, a traditional small fishing boat with a total of six oars. The six oars were manoeuvred by three rowers. They normally rowed near the deep drop-offs.
The layered spathes with the hook were pulled behind the dhoani at a specific speed. Our fishermen have landed these long and slender fish in the ocean with this technique for decades.
This distinctive blue-green coloured fish helps regulate the populations of their prey species. Wahoo plays an important role in the marine ecosystem.
Wahoo can reach a speed of up to 80 km/h. They chase their prey by changing direction and using quick bursts of speed. When our island witnessed the frenzy of flying fish, these speedsters slashed the flying fish. This is a truly majestic fish.
In 2012, the Chinese Tuna Long-Line Fishery Observer Programme conducted research on Wahoo biology and environmental preferences.
The study’s findings show that wahoo’s fork length (FL), which is the length of the fish from the tip of its nose to the fork of its tail, varied from 59 to 169 cm, with 111.3 cm being the average. The study also found two main size groups: males 100 to 130 cm and females 90 to 130 cm.
Studies of their stomach contents revealed that, based on the amount of prey items, they mostly ate fish (84.64%), cephalopods (14.26%), and crustaceans (1.1%). The optimal swimming depth and water temperature of wahoo were determined to be 70 and 110 m and 23.1 and 24 °C, respectively, in this study (Gao, Tian, Kindong, Dai, 2020).
