The athu kotu (brush park) fishery of Sri Lanka

Abstract

The fishermen of the mangrove estuaries of western Sri Lanka have evolved a system of fishing that creates an artificial mangrove habitat. It consists of a pile of mangrove brushwood being placed in the shallows of the estuaries and lagoons, pegged down so that the wood will not be scattered by water movement. When the wood rots, new branches are added, so a single park may exist in the same place for a long time.