FISHING GEAR AND FISHING METHODS 



249 



18-, and 24-thread medium seine twine, all 2-inch mesh. This bunt is 14-fathoms 

 square and is placed in the upper center section of the seine. 



To prevent twisting, menhaden seines are hung to two 9-thread, right and left 

 lay Manila ropes, to which are attached 3,800 4-inch and 4/2-inch special seine 

 corks. The 15-thread Manila rope on the bottom edge is weighted with approxi- 



CCowrtesy R. J. Ederer Co.) 



Fig. 13-6. Menhaden purse seine with two seine boats hauling in net after a success- 

 ful set. Striker boat supports cork line until netting is hauled back, the fish are then 

 "brailed" into the vessel standing by. 



mately 140 pounds of #6 leads. A hundred 1-pound brass rings of 6 inch 

 diameter serve the %-inch diameter Manila purse Hne. 



Pilchard Seines. These seines are also known as sardine seines and are con- 

 structed from 5 strips of netting laced together. In a seine 240 fathoms long by 



24 fathoms deep the first, or top, strip is 12-thread Manila twine, of l/s-inch 

 mesh, 400 meshes deep; the second has the same mesh size and count, but is of 

 9-thread medium twine. Both are 210 fathoms long. The bunt, 30 fathoms long 

 and 800 meshes deep, of l/s-inch mesh and 15-thread twine, is attached to the 

 end of these two strips. The third and fourth strips are each 400 meshes deep, of 

 1/8-inch mesh and 9-thread medium twine, while the fifth, or lower, strip is only 



25 meshes deep, of 8-inch mesh and 72-thread medium twine, and is known as 

 the lead line strip. 



A typical sardine seine of this size, as used in the California fishery, is hung 

 to a ^-inch diameter Manila rope. This rope is strung with 6,000 seine corks for 

 buoyancy and weighted with 1,600 pounds of 4-ounce seine leads attached to a 

 /8-inch Manila rope. Approximately 160 galvanized-iron purse rings, 4 to 6 inches 

 in diameter, are required to carry the 1%6-inch diameter steel or Manila purse 



