THE CARIBBEAI^' AREA 



Gillnets of much heavier construction are used in turtle fishing. These nets are 

 called "volantes" in Puerto Rico. Each volante is from 5 to ^0 fathoms long and 2 to 3 

 fathoms deep. The twine used is flo. 2U seine twine. Lfesh size is 20 to 24 inches stretch- 

 ed. The corks are of light wood and the weights are stones. Fiedler and Jarvis (1932) 

 report that "Turtle nets may be fished either as drift or sunken nets. The latter type is 

 anchored by stone killicks lashed in a loop of the lead line at each end of the net. Buoy 

 lines with marker buoys are made from blocks of wood. The nets are set in locations known 

 to be frequented by turtles, with a wooden decoy roughly shaped like a turtle attached to 

 each net." Nets of this general type are used throughout the Caribbean where turtles are 

 to be found. 



Tra-'nmel Nets Ctrasmallas ) : — These are not used to any great extent in the Caribbean 

 fisheries but Jarvis (1932) reports such nets used in Puerto Rico, Trammel nets are a 

 modification of gillnets. They are of the same shape and those reported in Puerto Rico 

 are 45 to 100 fathoms in length and 1 fathom deep. Trammel nets are constructed with 3 

 walls, or layers, of webbing all hung from a single cork and lead line instead of one 

 layer as in the case of gillnets. The outside layers or walls are of largennesh cotton 

 twine, usually about 6 inches stretched mesh. The inner layer is of finer twine (in the 

 United States ususdly of linen thread but in the Caribbean of light cotton twine) with a 

 mesh size of about 1 l/2 inches stretched mesh, Trasmallas are fished much like gillnets 

 but they are much less selective as to the size of the fish caught. When fish pass throu^ 

 the outer wall they hit the center, fine-mesh sections, Contin\iing, they push the middle 

 layer through the coarse mesh on the other side and thus form a pocket in which the fish 

 Is entangled. 



Dipnets t — These are of various types but are used primarily in catching spiny lobsters 

 (langostas) on the reefs. These nets are called "naticos" in Puerto Rico, These nets are 

 set on long poles. The hoop is usually placed at right-angles to the pole and the diameter 

 of the hoop varies from about 12 inches to 24 inches. The bag of the net is made of cotton 

 twine and it is conical in shape, with a depth of 1 to 2 feet. In fishing, the langosta is 

 prodded out of the holes or cracks and the net is placed over the animal. The hoop is then 

 moved laterally and the langosta rises into the bag and is thus trapped. Dipiets are used 

 also to dip fish from weirs and in fresh-water streams . In Barbados dip nets are used to 

 catch flying fish. These nets are shallow and of 1 l/2-inch mesh laced to a split bamboo 

 hoop bent in a circle. 



ItaULan seines ; — As far as can be determined, these are used only at Trinidad. They 

 are very similar to the Italian lampara seine. The seines average 140 fathoms in length by 

 15 fathoms in depth but the largest run up to 200 fathoms by 21 fathoms. Mesh size in the 

 wings varies from 12-inch stretched (for turtles) to 1 l/2-inch stretched (for herrings). 

 The bag or bunt is almost always 1 1/2 to 2-inches stretched. A typical Italian seine seen 

 at Port-of -Spain, Trinidad, had two wings, each 15 fathoms in length, and a bunt 12 fathoms 

 in length. The bunt was 15 fathoms deep at the center. The bag had 1 l/2 to 2-inch stretch- 

 ed mesh web. Two hundred meshes of the wings were 4-inch stretched; 100 meshes, 6-inch 

 stretched; and 50 meshes, 12-inch stretched mesh. The nets are made locally of imported 

 seijie twine of 6- to 30-thread sizes. Sheet lead weights are used about every fathom on 

 the lead line, giving an equivadent of about 8 ounces of weight for every 6 feet. The cork- 

 line is strung with floats of block cork in the bunt and local light wood in the wings. 

 The nets are tarred with light Stockholm tar. 



In fishing, the nets operate from large pirogues, using a crew of 5 or 6 men. At Port- 

 of-Spsiin, these boats are equipped with outboard motors but in other sections, oars are used 

 for propulsion. Depths fished are from 10 to 15 fathcHns in areas where fish are known to be 

 present and in these localities blind sets are often made. The net is set in a circle from 

 the boat and is then hauled by hand — one end from the bow and one end from the stern. There 

 is no purseline. When the wings have been hauled in, the lead line is picked up and brought 

 aboard and this leaves the cork line afloat with the bag entirely enclosed. The bag is then 

 hauled in and the fish removed. Italian seines are used most successfully at night. 



A variant of the Italian seine is the tuck seine. The tuck seine is larger and shallow- 

 er — about 230 fathoms by 16 fathoms. These are operated with the tide and close to the 



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