Traps are tools that have been used for thousands of years: they were the first tools used by humans to capture marine organisms. The traps, which are very different in shape and colour from each other, are impossible to classify. However, they are normally divided into: fish traps and basket traps, and fyke nets and coghill nets.
Fish traps and basket traps are small cages, built in different shapes and with different materials depending on the species to be caught, which are lowered to the seabed. These traps always have a bait to attract prey.
Fyke nets and coghill nets are cages consisting of nets supported and stabilised by plastic hoops. They consist of cone-shaped chambers that only allow fish to move inwards, thus becoming trapped.