Table 4. — Herring catches by months, 1947-58. 

 [In percentage] 



GEAR 



The Maine herring fishery employs three 

 principal types of gear; weir, stop seine, and 

 purse seine. Scattergood and Tibbo (1959) 

 provide Information on the history and uses of 

 these gears. Gill nets, which once were im- 

 portant gears for catching large herring, are 

 now seldom used. The otter trawl has never been 

 a herring-fishing gear in Maine. A State law 

 prohibits its use in Washington County; in 

 other counties it can be employed legally, 

 but such a fishery has never been profitable. 



During 1947-58, about three-quarters of 

 the Maine herring catches were made by stop 

 seiners (table 5). The weirs were next in 

 importance, being responsible for a little 

 less than one-quarter of the herring catch. 

 Purse seines account for only a little more 

 than one percent. Stop seines are particularly 

 Important along the western and central coast 

 areas. 



In Washington County, weirs are intensively 

 used. Table 6 shows the number of weirs in 

 operation in all Maine, Washington County, 

 and the high and low pools. Figures 13-16 

 show the geographically distribution of the 

 weirs in Washington County, which during 

 the 12-year period has had 63 percent of the 

 Maine weirs. 



Weirmen have produced most of the Wash- 

 ington County herring catch (table 7), having 

 been responsible for 58 percent of the herring 

 catch in that county during 1947-58. Stop 

 seiners caught 41 percent. The seiners are 

 becoming increasingly important in the region 

 and in some recent years have caught more 

 fish than the weirmen. Legal restrictions 

 against the use of seines near weirs have 

 tended to reduce the efficiency of seiners 

 in Washington County. 



In the Passamaquoddy Project area, weirs 

 and seines are the principal gears. Purse 

 seines have been seldom used by Maine 

 Passamaquoddy fishermen, although Canadian 

 purse seiners have been quite successful 

 in recent years. The number of weirs in 

 the low pool has averaged 6, ranging between 

 none and 16, and in the high pool^has aver- 

 aged 16, with a range of 14 to 3ri (tablejf^ 

 fig. 17). 



In the low and high pools, the relative 

 importance of the two gears varied (table 

 8, fig. 18). In the low pool, the stop seine 

 has been dominant and has been responsible 

 for about three-quarters of the catch. The weir 

 catch of the high pool has been more important, 

 accounting for over 80 percent of the catch. 



Table 5.— Maine herring landings by gear, 

 1947-58. 



[In percentage] 



13 



