DRAFT UGANDA STANDARD  
  DUS 1583  
Second  Edition 
yyyy -mm-dd 
 
 
 Reference number 
DUS 1583 : 2017 
© UNBS 2017  
  
Fishing gill nets — Specification  
 DUS 1583 : 2017  
ii © UN BS 2017 – All rights reserved 
 Compliance with this standard does not, of itself c onfer immunity from legal obligations 
A Uganda Standard does not purport to include all ne cessary provisions of a contract. Users are 
responsible for its correct application  
© UNBS 2017  
All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, no part of this publication may be reproduced or utilised in any 
form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and microfilm, without prior written 
permission from UNBS. 
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The Executive Director 
Uganda National Bureau of Standards 
P.O. Box 6329 
Kampala 
Uganda 
Tel: +256 417 333 2 50/1/2 
Fax: +256 414 286 123 
E-mail: info@unbs.go.ug  
Web: www.unbs.go.ug  DUS 1583 :2017  
© UNBS 2017 – All rights reserved  iii 
 Contents Page 
Foreword ............................................................................................................................................................  iv 
1 Scope ......................................................................................................................................................  5 
2 Normative references ............................................................................................................................  5 
3 Terms and definitions ...........................................................................................................................  5 
4 Requirements .........................................................................................................................................  5 
4.1 Twines .....................................................................................................................................................  5 
4.2 Dimensional stability of mesh ..............................................................................................................  5 
4.3 Mesh size ................................................................................................................................................  6 
4.4 Length and Depth ..................................................................................................................................  6 
4.5 Linear density ........................................................................................................................................  6 
4.6 Breaking strength of twine ...................................................................................................................  6 
4.7 Elongation at break ...............................................................................................................................  6 
4.8 Mesh breaking load ...............................................................................................................................  6 
5 Packaging ...............................................................................................................................................  7 
6 Labelling .................................................................................................................................................  7 
Annex A (normative)  Measurement of mesh size ...........................................................................................  9 
A.1 Principle .................................................................................................................................................  9 
A.2 Apparatus ...............................................................................................................................................  9 
A.3 Preparation .............................................................................................................................................  9 
A.4 Procedure ...............................................................................................................................................  9 
A.5 Calculation and expression of results ................................................................................................  9 
Annex B (normative)  Determination of linear density of twines ..................................................................  11 
B.1 Principle ...............................................................................................................................................  11 
B.2 Apparatus .............................................................................................................................................  11 
B.3 Preparation ...........................................................................................................................................  11 
B.4 Procedure .............................................................................................................................................  11 
B.5 Calculation and expression of results ...............................................................................................  11 
Annex C (normative)  Determination of breaking strength of twine ............................................................  12 
C.1 Principle ...............................................................................................................................................  12 
C.2 Preparation ...........................................................................................................................................  12 
C.3 Procedure .............................................................................................................................................  12 
C.4 Calculation and expression of results ...............................................................................................  12 
 DUS 1583 : 2017  
iv © UN BS 2017 – All rights reserved 
 Foreword 
Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) is a parastatal under the Ministry  of Trade, Industry and 
Cooperatives established under Cap 327, of the Laws of Uganda, as amended.  UNBS is mandated to co-
ordinate the elaboration of standards and is  
(a) a member of International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) and  
(b) a contact point for the WHO/FAO Codex Alimentarius Commission on Food Standards, and  
(c) the National Enquiry Point on TBT Agreement of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) . 
The work of preparing Uganda Standards is carried out through Technical Committees. A T echnical 
Committee is established to deliberate on standards in a given field or area and consi sts of key stakeholders 
including government, academia, consumer groups, private sector and other interested parties.  
Draft Uganda Standards adopted by the Technical Committee are widely circulated to stakeholders and the 
general public for comments. The committee reviews the comments before recom mending the draft standards 
for approval and declaration as Uganda Standards by the National Standards Council. 
The committee responsible for this document is Technical Committee UNBS/TC 7 , Textile, leather, paper and 
related products , Subcommittee SC 1, Textile and related products . DUS 1583 : 2017  
v  
 Fishing gill nets — Specification  
1 Scope  
This Uganda Standard specifies the requirements and methods of test for fishing gill nets 
2 Normative references  
The following referenced documents referred to in the text in such a way that so me or all of their content 
constitutes requirements of this document. For dated references, only the edition c ited applies. For undated 
references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies. 
US ISO 1805 , Fishing nets — Determination of breaking force and knot breaking force of netting yarns  
US ISO 1973 , Textile fibres — Determination of linear density — Gravimetric method and vibroscope method  
US ISO 5079 , Textile fibres — Determination of breaking force and elongation at break of individual fibres  
Uganda fishing rules 2010 
3 Terms and definitions  
For the purposes of this standard, the following terms and definitions shall apply. 
ISO and IEC maintain terminological databases for use in standardization at the following address es:  
— ISO Online browsing platform: available at http://www.iso.org/obp  
3.1  
half mesh 
distance from the centre of one knot to the centre of the next knot in the square mesh 
3.2  
full mesh 
distance from the centre of one knot to the next in the diagonally stretched mesh state 
3.3  
knot 
point of connecting, overlapping of crossing of the net 
3.4  
twine 
product of one twisting operation embracing two or more single yarns or monofilaments 
3.5  
Mesh size 
the size of spacing between the individual strands of a fishing net or other mesh   
vi © UN BS 2017 – All rights reserved 
 4 Requirements 
4.1 Twines 
The twines used in the manufacture of fishing nets shall be made of synthetic multifilament fibres 
4.2 Dimensional stability of mesh 
The twine used in the manufacture of fishing nets shall not shrink or stretch by more than 3 % after immersion  
in saline water for 24 hours at room temperature 
4.3 Mesh size 
The minimum m e s h  size shall be 4  ( f o u r )  i n c h e s  o r 1 0 3  m m  in accordance with Uganda Fish 
(Fishing) Rules, 2010 The minimum mesh size may change as and when t he fishing rules are amended. The 
mesh size shall be determined in accordance with Annex A 
4.4 Length and Depth 
The length of the net when stretched shall be 100 yards (90 meters) subject to a t olerance of 2% variation and 
the depth of the net shall not be greater than 30 meshes 
4.5 Linear density 
The linear density of the twine shall be as declared subject to a tolerance of 5 % when determined in 
accordance with US ISO 1973.  
4.6 Breaking strength of twine 
The average breaking load of twine shall be as specified in Table 1 when determined in accordance with  
Annex C. Each individual test value shall be at least 90 % of the minimum breaking strength given in Table 1 
4.7 Elongation at break 
The average elongation at break of the twine shall be as specified in Table 1 when determined in accordance  
with US ISO 5079. No individual test value shall be more than 10 % of the maximum given in Table 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
© UNBS 2017 – All rights reserved  vii 
 Table 1 — Breaking load of twine and elongation at breaking load 
Twine construction Breaking load, wet*, min, 
N Elongation at break, wet*, max. 
% 
Nylon multifilament twine tex/plies  
25  
30 23/2 
23/6 75 35 
23/9 100 40 
23/21 240 40 
Polyethylene  
115.0  
40 42/6 
42/0 155.0 45 
42/12 196.0 50 
42/24 325 55 
Method of test US ISO 5079  US ISO 5079  
* „Wet‟ shall mean that the test specimen has been  immersed in sea water without wetting agents at  25 ºC ± 2 ºC 
for at least 12 hours surplus water shall be shaken off. 
NOTE  1 kgf = 9.80 Newtons 
 
4.8 Mesh breaking load 
The average mesh breaking load of the net shall be as given in Table 2 when determined in accordance with  
US ISO 1805 
Table 2 — Mesh breaking load 
Net construction Mesh breaking load, wet*, min., 
N 
Nylon multifilament nets [Tex x mesh size (mm)]  
23/2 x 45 30 
23/6 x 65 80 
23/6 x 121 90 
23/6 x 127 110 
23/9 x 7 110 
23/21 x 102 290 
Polyethylene nets [Tex/plies x size (mm)]  
90 42/6 x 32 
42/6 x 45 100 
42/9 x 45 140 
42/12 x 45 120 
42/24 x 152 350 
Method of test US ISO 1805   
viii © UN BS 2017 – All rights reserved 
 * „Wet‟ shall mean that the test specimen has been immersed in sea water without wetting agents at 25 ºC ± 2 ºC  for 
at least 12 hours surplus water shall be shaken off. 
 
5 Packaging 
Fishing nets shall be packed in such a manner as to prevent soiling and damage 
6 Labelling 
The following information shall be legibly and indelibly marked on fishing gill nets: 
a) name of the product shall be “Fishing gill nets ”; 
b) manufacturers name or registered trade mark; 
c) twine specification; 
d) fibre content of the net twine; 
e) nominal mesh size; 
f) length of the net 
g) Depth of the net; 
h) colour of the net; 
i) for coloured net, the type of dye (s) used shall be specified and shall not be among the banned  dyes; 
j) date of manufacture; 
k) instructions for care and disposal of nets; and 
l) the inscription Made  in Uganda ‟ or name of country of origin for imported net  
© UNBS 2017 – All rights reserved  ix 
 Annex A 
(normative)  
 
Measurement of mesh size 
A.1 Principle 
The distance from knot to knot in a square mesh configura tion or stretched mesh configuration shall be taken to give  the 
size of half mesh or full mesh respectively. 
A.2 Apparatus 
One of the following measuring devices shall be used to measure mesh size: 
a) allen net rule; 
b) hovey gauge; 
c) selkirk gauge;  
d) flexib le rule; and 
e) straight rule. 
A.3 Preparation 
Immerse the fishing net sample in „sea‟ water without wetting agents at 25°C ± 2 °C for at least 12 h ours. Shake off 
surplus water. 
A.4 Procedure 
A.4.1  Take the distance in millimetres, from the centre of one knot to the next in the s quare mesh condition. 
Repeat the measurement for 11 other meshes selected at random. 
A.4.2  Measure the distance in millimetres from the centre of one knot to the next in the stretched mesh state 
using just sufficient force to remove kinks. Repeat the measurement for 11 other meshes selected at r andom. 
NOTE  See Figure 1. 
A.5 Calculation and expression of results 
A.5.1  Full mesh size is the average of the measurements in A.4.2. 
A.5.2 Half mesh size is the average of measurements taken in A.4.1.  Full mesh size = Half mesh size times 
2. 
See Figure 1 below  
x © UN BS 2017 – All rights reserved 
   
Figure 1 — Mesh size 
.  
© UNBS 2017 – All rights reserved  xi 
 Annex B 
(normative)  
 
Determination of linear density of twines 
B.1 Principle 
Certain length of twine shall be weighed in milligrams and  its length in centimetres determined. Its linear density  shall be 
calculated from the two measurements. 
B.2 Apparatus 
B.2.1 Weighing balance , capable of measuring in milligrams 
B.2.2 Apparatus in A.2 above 
B.3 Preparation 
Unravel 10 pieces of twine from the netting each measuring at least 15 cm. Apply just sufficient force to remove kinks in 
the twine pieces. 
B.4 Procedure 
B.4.1  Measure the length of each piece in centimetres to the nearest millimetre. 
B.4.2  Measure the mass of each twine piece to the nearest milligram. 
B.5 Calculation and expression of results 
B.5.1 Linear density of each twine piece in tex shall be calculated from the following formula: 
Tex = 100 m/I 
where 
l is the length, in centimetres, of the piece; and 
m is the mass, in milligrams, of piece. 
 
B.5.2 Linear density of the netting twine = the average tex of the ten pieces  
xii © UN BS 2017 – All rights reserved 
 Annex C 
(normative)  
 
Determination of breaking strength of twine 
C.1 Principle 
A piece of twine is subjected to tensile loading until i t breaks. The load at which it breaks shall be noted and re corded as 
breaking streng th. 
C.2 Preparation 
Retrieve the twine pieces used in Annex B for this test. 
C.3 Procedure 
Determine the breaking strength of each piece using US ISO 5079 but usi ng gauge length of 10 cm. 
C.4 Calculation and expression of results 
C.4.1 Take the average breaking strength of the 10 twine pieces. 
C.4.2 The breaking strength of the netting twine shall be the average in C.4.1  
© UNBS 2017 – All rights reserved  xiii 
 Certification marking 
Products that conform to Uganda standards may be marked with Uganda National Bureau of S tandards 
(UNBS) Certification Mark shown in the figure below.  
The use of the UNBS Certification Mark is governed by the Standards Act, and the  Regulations made 
thereunder. This mark can be used only by those licensed under the certificatio n mark scheme operated by 
the Uganda National Bureau of Standards and in conjunction with the relevant Ugan da Standard. The 
presence of this mark on a product or in relation to a product is an assurance that the goods compl y with the 
requirements of that standard under a system of supervision, control and testing i n accordance with the 
certification mark scheme of the Uganda National Bureau of Standards. UNBS marked products are 
continually checked by UNBS for conformity to that standard.  
Further particulars of the terms and conditions of licensing may be obtained fro m the Director, Uganda 
National Bureau of Standards.  
 
 DUS 1583 : 2017    
 
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© UNBS 2017 – All rights reserved