FISHING GEAR AND FISHING METHODS 



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bottom as to form a wall. These leaders may be as much as 500 feet long and 

 extend inside the mouth about 5 feet or more. The mouth is open wide enough on 

 either side of the leader to permit entry with a dory. The heart or crib may be 

 as much as 80 feet in diameter. 



In recent years netting has to a large extent replaced the brush formerly used 

 in the heart of these weirs, but use of brush leaders has continued. After the 

 dory has entered the weir, the mouth is closed by dropping a net; this prevents 

 the possibility of fish escaping. In some of the larger weirs a small hand seine is 

 used to capture the fish. In others the trap bottom is raised by means of pulleys 

 and the fish are herded into a section known as the brailing piece, made of some- 

 what heavier twine. The fish are then, in either case, dipped or brailed into the 

 dory and taken directly to the packing plant, or are transferred to a sardine 

 transport. 



Pound Nets or Traps. In its simplest form a pound net consists of three parts: 

 (1) the leader, extending from the shore or shallow water to the (2) heart or 



(Courtesy R. J. Ederer Co.) 

 Fig. l.S-21. Ordinary trap net showing leader (A), heart (B), and crib or pot (C). 



wings, a heart-shaped enclosure which deflects the fish into (3) the crib. The 

 crib or pot is usually rectangular, and it is here that the fish are captured. The 

 term "pound," as used in a pound net, refers to the impounding of the fish within 

 an enclosure. 



Leaders up to 800 feet long supported by poles, driven by pile drivers, extend 

 offshore to the entrance of the heart, which is the first stopping place of the fish. 

 The heart, a netting enclosure, is about 72 feet across. Entrance into the crib is 

 gained by means of a 14-foot open space, called the gate, which is situated directly 

 in the center. Cribs are as a rule considerably larger than hearts. Oval-shaped, 

 they are as much as 80 to 100 feet across and up to 200 feet long and consist of 



