Inland Fishing Gear and Methods in Benin: The Case of Lake Nokoué

This publication was produced in Benin to enable various stakeholders-including fisheries specialists, government officials, technical and financial partners, users, teachers, and students at fisheries training institutions, among others-to better understand the gear and methods used for fishing in the fisheries of Lake Nokoué. It includes descriptions of the gear, how each works, and their levels of selectivity. In total, ten types of gear (the line, the longline, the crab trap, the trawl net, the "Tokpokonou," the dip net, the gillnet, the trammel net, the trap, and the "acadja"), as well as two methods (active and passive) for catching fish, shrimp, and crabs, have been inventoried and described. With the exception of the gillnet and the crab trap, all other capture methods are not very selective. They are made with fine-mesh nets and can even capture fish eggs.