FISHING GEAR AND FISHING METHODS 



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strain. The leader webbing is hung from a long cable running from the shore to 

 the trap and weighted down to the bottom. The netting in the trap proper is at- 

 tached to the log framework. These traps, following the usual design, have one 

 or more hearts on the side of the leader exposed to the prevailing winds or cur- 

 rents so that more fish will be eflFectively directed into the inner chamber or pocket. 

 These are located at the offshore end of the leader, which is about 1000 feet out 

 from the shoreline. 



(Courtesy R. J. Edercr Co.) 



Fig. 13-23. Cannery tender brailing salmon into scow from an Alaska salmon set trap. 

 Detail of brailer shown in insert. 



These heavy traps, including the stationary type which is almost identical 

 except for the fact that it is held in place by pilings driven into the ocean floor, are 

 unloaded by means of spillers. The ordinary trap net used in other fisheries is 

 usually unloaded by lifting the entire bottom web of the trap from which the fish 

 are brailed into the tenders. In the salmon fishery the spillers are apronlike pieces 

 of heavy netting (usually Manila) about 12 feet wide and 20 feet or more long. 

 The inboard edge is secured to the barge rail, the outer edge to a beam weighted 

 with chains. This is lowered into the bottom of the trap by means of tackle 

 operated from a boom on the barge. As the fish swim above this webbing, it is 

 raised, scooping them up from a horizontal to a vertical position and spilling them 

 into the hold. This operation is repeated until all the fish have been removed. 



Reef Nets. Reef nets, as the name indicates, are set on reefs. They are used 

 exclusively in the shore fisheries and are similar in appearance to a small pound 

 net without a heart, but are less substantially constructed. The reef acts as a leader 



