A detailed survey of the fishing crafts in the North Eastern Hill Regions was carried out during 2005-06. All the fishing crafts in the region were being constructed in a traditional way by using different species of timber. Few popular designs were selected for construction of fishing craft using low cost less durable timber species and these were provided with Fiberglass Reinforced Plastic (FRP) sheathing for increasing their durability. Periodic physical inspection of the FRP sheathed wooden fishing craft was carried out for a period of one year and it was observed that the FRP sheathed wooden canoes were in good condition after one year and do not require any maintenance as in the case of the traditional wooden fishing craft. 

Fishing canoe, North Eastern Hill region, fiberglass sheathing.