Traps and pots
Discipline · Last reviewed 2026-08-10
Passive gear that fish and shellfish enter and cannot leave — among the most ancient fishing technologies, and among the most selective still in use.
A trap works on a simple asymmetry: an entrance that is easy to find from outside and hard to find from inside. Woven fish traps and stone tidal weirs are among the oldest fishing structures known, some of them still visible on European coastlines, and the same principle powers the modern shellfish pot fishery.
What makes traps interesting environmentally is that they are passive and generally selective. Catch is alive and in good condition when the gear is hauled, undersized animals and non-target species can be returned with high survival, and the gear does not disturb the seabed the way towed gear does. Escape gaps sized to release undersized animals are standard in many pot fisheries.
The corresponding problem is ghost fishing. A lost pot keeps working — catching, killing, and re-baiting itself with what it has already caught — for as long as it stays intact, which for synthetic materials can be years. That is why biodegradable escape panels are a live area of gear development.
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- Explained for context and understanding, not taught
FishingHQ covers this method for what it is, how it works, where it came from and what it costs the environment. It does not teach it. Some of these methods are restricted or prohibited in most jurisdictions, and for the commercial ones the useful content is the mechanism and the impact rather than instruction.
What it is
Passive gear set on the bottom or in a flow, which fish or shellfish enter voluntarily — usually attracted by bait — and cannot readily leave. It includes shellfish creels and pots, fyke and eel nets, and fixed traps and weirs.
How it works
The entrance is a funnel or a non-return throat that narrows inwards, so the opening is obvious from the outside and hard to locate from within. Bait draws animals in; the geometry keeps them. Because the catch is retained alive and undamaged, selectivity is high: escape gaps release undersized animals continuously, and anything unwanted that is hauled can be returned in good condition.
Equipment
A frame, netting or slats, one or more entrance throats, escape gaps sized by regulation, a weight to hold it, and a rope and buoy to find and haul it. Materials have moved from willow, wood and natural fibre to steel frames and synthetic netting — durable, and the reason lost gear persists.
Modern use
Pots and creels underpin most commercial crustacean fisheries and are used for eels and some finfish. They are widely regarded as among the lower-impact commercial methods on seabed and bycatch grounds, subject to the ghost-fishing problem.
Where there is disagreement
Effort creep is the live issue in pot fisheries: gear is cheap, so the number of pots deployed can rise steadily without any change in vessel numbers, and stocks can be over-exploited without the fishery ever looking as though it has grown. Pot limits are the usual management response and are contested.
Where to go next
Techniques within this
What these connections rest on (1)
Practitioner consensus — 1 connection
Widely and independently recommended by experienced anglers and specialist sources. This is real angling knowledge, not proof: controlled evidence for it is limited, and FishingHQ records it as convention rather than as a demonstrated effect.
Whelk potting
A discipline that is characteristic of the place rather than merely possible there, joined so a reader can move between the place and the practice.
- General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated practice associating this discipline with this place, recorded as practitioner consensus rather than as tested fact.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- Fishers' Craft and Lettered Art: Tracts on Fishing from the End of the Middle Ages — University of Toronto Press, 1997 (Scientific literature)Relied on for: That fishing traditions develop around the water and quarry available to them, and the historical method of reading such traditions.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
Where it is practised
- Fiji and MelanesiaReef traps are a long-established technology in the region and remain in use alongside modern gear.
- Galicia and the Iberian ria coastOctopus potting is of major cultural and commercial importance on this coast and is one of its defining fisheries.
- KoreaPot and trap fishing for crab, octopus and shellfish is a significant inshore practice, much of it under communal village fishery rights.
- Lake Victoria and the Rift Valley lakesTraps, baskets and weirs work the shallows and the river connections using long-established designs.
- Lough NeaghThe commercial eel fishery works by long-line and draft net rather than by rod, and it is the lough's defining activity rather than a background one.
- PortugalThe octopus pot and trap fishery is among the most important in the country, and the traditional unbaited pot exploits the animal's search for a den rather than for food.
- ShetlandCreeling for lobster, brown crab and velvet crab is the inshore commercial mainstay and is managed under a local regulating order with few parallels in Britain.
- Skye and the Inner HebridesCreel fishing for lobster, crab and prawns is the principal inshore commercial fishery of the region and the gear is present throughout the sheltered water.
9 more
- The Coral Triangle Fishing regions
- The Gower and Carmarthen Bay Fishing regions
- The Mekong system Fishing regions
- The Moroccan Atlantic coast Fishing regions
- The Pacific Northwest coast Fishing regions
- The Severn Estuary Fishing regions
- The Wadden Sea Fishing regions
- The Wash and the Lincolnshire coast Fishing regions
- The western Indian Ocean coast Fishing regions
What these connections rest on (17)
Practitioner consensus — 17 connections
Widely and independently recommended by experienced anglers and specialist sources. This is real angling knowledge, not proof: controlled evidence for it is limited, and FishingHQ records it as convention rather than as a demonstrated effect.
Fiji and Melanesia
A discipline that is characteristic of the place rather than merely possible there, joined so a reader can move between the place and the practice.
- General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated practice associating this discipline with this place, recorded as practitioner consensus rather than as tested fact.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- Fishers' Craft and Lettered Art: Tracts on Fishing from the End of the Middle Ages — University of Toronto Press, 1997 (Scientific literature)Relied on for: That fishing traditions develop around the water and quarry available to them, and the historical method of reading such traditions.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
Galicia and the Iberian ria coast
The discipline that dominates fishing in this place, recorded as established practice rather than as a ranking.
- General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated practice associating this discipline with this coast or system, recorded as practitioner consensus rather than as tested fact.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- Fishers' Craft and Lettered Art: Tracts on Fishing from the End of the Middle Ages — University of Toronto Press, 1997 (Scientific literature)Relied on for: That fishing traditions develop around the water and quarry available to them, and the historical method of reading such traditions.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
Korea
A discipline that is characteristic of the place rather than merely possible there, joined so a reader can move between the place and the practice.
- General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated practice associating this discipline with this place, recorded as practitioner consensus rather than as tested fact.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- Fishers' Craft and Lettered Art: Tracts on Fishing from the End of the Middle Ages — University of Toronto Press, 1997 (Scientific literature)Relied on for: That fishing traditions develop around the water and quarry available to them, and the historical method of reading such traditions.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
Lake Victoria and the Rift Valley lakes
A discipline that is characteristic of the place rather than merely possible there, joined so a reader can move between the place and the practice.
- General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated practice associating this discipline with this place, recorded as practitioner consensus rather than as tested fact.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- Fishers' Craft and Lettered Art: Tracts on Fishing from the End of the Middle Ages — University of Toronto Press, 1997 (Scientific literature)Relied on for: That fishing traditions develop around the water and quarry available to them, and the historical method of reading such traditions.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
Lough Neagh
Which branch of fishing dominates a water is a statement about practice rather than about the place, and is recorded as convention.
- Coarse Fishing — A. & C. Black, 1912 (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Classical British coarse angling practice: river and stillwater reading, baits and seasonal observation.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- Angling Times — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Contemporary UK coarse angling practice as reported by practitioners, including venue character and method convention.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
Portugal
The discipline that dominates fishing in this place, recorded as established practice rather than as a ranking.
- General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated practice associating this discipline with this place, recorded as practitioner consensus rather than as tested fact.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- Fishers' Craft and Lettered Art: Tracts on Fishing from the End of the Middle Ages — University of Toronto Press, 1997 (Scientific literature)Relied on for: That fishing traditions develop around the water and quarry available to them, and the historical method of reading such traditions.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
Shetland
A discipline that is characteristic of the place rather than merely possible there, joined so a reader can move between the place and the practice.
- General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated practice associating this discipline with this place, recorded as practitioner consensus rather than as tested fact.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- Fishers' Craft and Lettered Art: Tracts on Fishing from the End of the Middle Ages — University of Toronto Press, 1997 (Scientific literature)Relied on for: That fishing traditions develop around the water and quarry available to them, and the historical method of reading such traditions.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
Skye and the Inner Hebrides
A discipline that is characteristic of the place rather than merely possible there, joined so a reader can move between the place and the practice.
- General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated practice associating this discipline with this place, recorded as practitioner consensus rather than as tested fact.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- Fishers' Craft and Lettered Art: Tracts on Fishing from the End of the Middle Ages — University of Toronto Press, 1997 (Scientific literature)Relied on for: That fishing traditions develop around the water and quarry available to them, and the historical method of reading such traditions.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
The Coral Triangle
A discipline that is characteristic of the place rather than merely possible there, joined so a reader can move between the place and the practice.
- General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated practice associating this discipline with this place, recorded as practitioner consensus rather than as tested fact.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- Fishers' Craft and Lettered Art: Tracts on Fishing from the End of the Middle Ages — University of Toronto Press, 1997 (Scientific literature)Relied on for: That fishing traditions develop around the water and quarry available to them, and the historical method of reading such traditions.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
The Gower and Carmarthen Bay
A claim about angling convention rather than about the world: that this place sits within this branch of fishing, which drives the information architecture as well as the page. It rests on independent practitioner description.
- General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated descriptions of which practices are conventionally used in the waters named, recorded as practitioner consensus rather than as scholarship.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Long-running published description of British and Irish sea angling practice by region and by ground type.FishingHQ's interpretation of what it saysCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
The Mekong system
A discipline that is characteristic of the place rather than merely possible there, joined so a reader can move between the place and the practice.
- General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated practice associating this discipline with this place, recorded as practitioner consensus rather than as tested fact.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- Fishers' Craft and Lettered Art: Tracts on Fishing from the End of the Middle Ages — University of Toronto Press, 1997 (Scientific literature)Relied on for: That fishing traditions develop around the water and quarry available to them, and the historical method of reading such traditions.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
The Moroccan Atlantic coast
A discipline that is characteristic of the place rather than merely possible there, joined so a reader can move between the place and the practice.
- General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated practice associating this discipline with this place, recorded as practitioner consensus rather than as tested fact.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- Fishers' Craft and Lettered Art: Tracts on Fishing from the End of the Middle Ages — University of Toronto Press, 1997 (Scientific literature)Relied on for: That fishing traditions develop around the water and quarry available to them, and the historical method of reading such traditions.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
The Pacific Northwest coast
The discipline that dominates fishing in this place, recorded as established practice rather than as a ranking.
- General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated practice associating this discipline with this coast or system, recorded as practitioner consensus rather than as tested fact.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- Fishers' Craft and Lettered Art: Tracts on Fishing from the End of the Middle Ages — University of Toronto Press, 1997 (Scientific literature)Relied on for: That fishing traditions develop around the water and quarry available to them, and the historical method of reading such traditions.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
The Severn Estuary
A discipline that is characteristic of the place rather than merely possible there, joined so a reader can move between the place and the practice.
- General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated practice associating this discipline with this place, recorded as practitioner consensus rather than as tested fact.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- Fishers' Craft and Lettered Art: Tracts on Fishing from the End of the Middle Ages — University of Toronto Press, 1997 (Scientific literature)Relied on for: That fishing traditions develop around the water and quarry available to them, and the historical method of reading such traditions.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
The Wadden Sea
A claim about angling convention rather than about the world: that this place sits within this branch of fishing, which drives the information architecture as well as the page. It rests on independent practitioner description.
- General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated descriptions of which practices are conventionally used in the waters named, recorded as practitioner consensus rather than as scholarship.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Long-running published description of European sea angling practice by region and by ground type.FishingHQ's interpretation of what it saysCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
The Wash and the Lincolnshire coast
A claim about angling convention rather than about the world: that this place sits within this branch of fishing, which drives the information architecture as well as the page. It rests on independent practitioner description.
- General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated descriptions of which practices are conventionally used in the waters named, recorded as practitioner consensus rather than as scholarship.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Long-running published description of British and Irish sea angling practice by region and by ground type.FishingHQ's interpretation of what it saysCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
The western Indian Ocean coast
A discipline that is characteristic of the place rather than merely possible there, joined so a reader can move between the place and the practice.
- General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated practice associating this discipline with this place, recorded as practitioner consensus rather than as tested fact.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- Fishers' Craft and Lettered Art: Tracts on Fishing from the End of the Middle Ages — University of Toronto Press, 1997 (Scientific literature)Relied on for: That fishing traditions develop around the water and quarry available to them, and the historical method of reading such traditions.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
Compared with
- SpearfishingSpearfishing is the most selective way of taking a fish that exists — the animal is seen, identified and judged before anything is committed. Setting it beside the most selective commercial gear is the fairest way to show what selectivity does and does not buy.
- TrawlingThe two ends of the selectivity range. A pot catches what enters it and releases the rest alive when hauled; a trawl catches whatever is in the path of the net. Both are legitimate commercial gear, and the environmental arguments about them are almost entirely arguments about that difference.
What these connections rest on (2)
Authoritative guidance — 2 connections
Stated by a fisheries authority, scientific institute or recognised angling body. Authoritative, but summarising rather than demonstrating.
Spearfishing
A selectivity comparison across recreational and commercial gear, held to an authoritative standard because the claim about spearfishing's selectivity is one this catalogue relies on elsewhere.
- FAO fishing gear types and fishing technology information — Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (Scientific institute)Relied on for: The classification of harpoon and spear gear alongside trap gear, and the selectivity characteristics of each.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- Good Fish Guide — Marine Conservation Society (Conservation authority)Relied on for: That gear selectivity is a component of sustainability assessment.FishingHQ's interpretation of what it saysCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
Trawling
A gear-selectivity comparison held to an authoritative standard, because it is the basis of most of the public argument about commercial fishing and a loose statement of it would be worse than none.
- FAO fishing gear types and fishing technology information — Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (Scientific institute)Relied on for: The classification of static trap gear and towed net gear, and the selectivity characteristics distinguishing them.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- Good Fish Guide — Marine Conservation Society (Conservation authority)Relied on for: That gear type is a principal determinant of a fishery's sustainability rating, distinct from the stock status of the target species.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
Environment and conservation
What these connections rest on (1)
Authoritative guidance — 1 connection
Stated by a fisheries authority, scientific institute or recognised angling body. Authoritative, but summarising rather than demonstrating.
Discarded line and lost tackle
Ghost fishing by lost pots and traps is documented.
- FAO fishing gear types and fishing technology information — Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (Scientific institute)Relied on for: That lost pots and traps continue to catch and kill until they degrade or are recovered.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
History and culture
What these connections rest on (1)
Practitioner consensus — 1 connection
Widely and independently recommended by experienced anglers and specialist sources. This is real angling knowledge, not proof: controlled evidence for it is limited, and FishingHQ records it as convention rather than as a demonstrated effect.
Traditional fish traps and weirs
A record joined to the history behind it. Historical placement rests on the documentary and scholarly sources cited; where the tradition is living rather than documented, the claim is kept at the level those sources support.
- FAO fishing gear types and fishing technology information — Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (Scientific institute)Relied on for: Classification and description of world fishing gears, including traps, weirs, handlines, droplines and longlines.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- Fishers' Craft and Lettered Art: Tracts on Fishing from the End of the Middle Ages — University of Toronto Press, 1997 (Scientific literature)Relied on for: Historical fishing gear, its organisation and the legal and economic context in which it was used.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
Check the rules before you fish
Fishing laws, bylaws, access rules, seasons, bait restrictions and permitted methods vary by location and can change. Check the current rules from the relevant authority and the water you intend to fish before fishing.
Check with:
- Current national or regional law for where you are fishing
- Current local bylaws
- The relevant fisheries authority
- The landowner, club or fishery whose water it is
- Any restrictions specific to the species or the method you intend to use
Sources for this page
- FAO fishing gear types and fishing technology information — Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (Scientific institute)Relied on for: The mechanics of pots and traps, their selectivity, and the persistence of lost gear as a source of continued mortality.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- Good Fish Guide — Marine Conservation Society (Conservation authority)Relied on for: The characterisation of pot and creel fisheries as lower-impact relative to towed gear.FishingHQ's interpretation of what it saysCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
How FishingHQ labels evidence is explained in the evidence policy.