NOTES ON FISHING GEAR 



The major ocean commercial fisheries of the State employ three 

 basic types of fishing gear. These are the round haul net, the trawl, and 

 hook and line. The greatest tonnage of fish is caught in round haid nets: 

 those which are set in a circle about a school of fish to form a vertical 

 curtain, after which the bottom is closed and the entrapped fish concen- 

 trated in a small portion of the net by hauling in on one or both ends. 

 There are several types, such as the purse seine, the ring net, the lampara, 

 and the hait net, with many modifications, but all operate on the same 

 general principle. The simplest type, the lampara, has a bag of fine mesh 

 at the center and wings of coarser mesli. The wings are pulled in by hand 

 and the fish concentrated in the bag. The most complex type is the purse 

 seine. In this net, the bag is normally at one end and the bottom is closed 

 off by pulling the "purse line" which runs through a series of rings 

 attached to its bottom. It is a large and heavy net, hauled with help from 

 a power winch. There are all sorts of gradations between these extremes. 

 Relatively few of the "pure" lampara types are still in use — except as 

 bait nets — for most of the small round haul nets now have at least 

 some rings. 



The bluefin tuna, sardine and jack mackerel fisheries use the purse 

 seine type almost entirely. ]\Iuch of the Pacific mackerel catch is made 

 by the purse seine fleet, which also fishes Mexican waters for yellowfin 

 tuna and skipjack, and, less intensively, barracuda and yellowtail. 



The traivl (drag net) is employed in the flatfish and rockfish fisheries 

 of Northern and Central California. This is a net in the form of a funnel, 

 with a bag at the narrow end, which is dragged on or near the bottom. 

 In California, the otter trawl is the tj^pe in current use. The mouth of 

 this net is kept open by tw^o boards (otter-or trawl-boards) attached 

 to the towlines which run from each side of the net to the vessel. They 

 are attached in such a manner that they flare apart when pulled through 

 the water and may be made fast close to the mouth of the net or at 

 some distance from it. The halloon trawl is a modification designed to 

 skim over rather than drag on the bottom and is used extensively in the 

 rockfish fishery. Paranzella trawls (pulled by two boats) and beam trawls 

 (in which the mouth of the net is held open by a beam across the opening) 

 are not used at present in California's offshore fisheries. 



There are many methods of fishing with hook and line. The most 

 important application of this ancient technique by California fishermen 

 is in the yellowfin tuna-skipjack fishery. The large tuna bait boats carry 

 quantities of live bait with which to chum up the tuna, which are then 

 caught on pole and line wdth barbless feathered hooks. This type of 

 fishing (striker fishing) is employed to some extent by smaller local boats, 

 especially those after barracuda. Set lines and hand lines supply part of 

 the market catch, and the ocean-caught salmon and most of the albacore 

 is taken by trolling — pulling a line with an artificial lure or bait behind 

 a moving boat. 



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