78 U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES. 
PURSE SEINES. 
This form of apparatus is in quite general use in Puget Sound and 
southeast Alaska, and has proved highly effective in these deep, swift 
waters. These seines are about 200 fathoms long, 25 fathoms in the 
bunt, and 20 fathoms in the wings, all with a 33-inch stretch mesh. 
The foot line is heavily leaded and the bridles are about 10 feet long. 
The purse line is made of 14-inch hemp. The rings through which 
the purse line is rove measure about 5 inches in diameter and are 
made of galvanized iron. 
Purse seining for salmon in Puget Sound and waters north of same 
is one of the most important methods in use in the fisheries. In the 
type of vessel used in this fishery there has probably been greater 
improvement than in any other branch of the fisheries of the coast. 
In the early days row scows were in use, but now vessels with power 
are used. 
In 1903 the first gasoline-powered purse seine boat appeared on the 
Pacific coast salmon fishing grounds in Puget Sound. ‘The vessel was 
named the Pioneer and she was equipped with a 5-horsepower engine. 
The first season she easily demonstrated her vast superiority over 
the other purse seiners in the quickness with which she could reach 
a school of fish after it was sighted and in surrounding it with her 
seine. The next year there were a few more built or equipped, and 
the number has steadily increased until at the present time practi- 
eally all except a few in southeast Alaska are equipped with motor 
engines. 
The first power seine boats were only about 30 feet in length and 
had small power. As they were few in numbers, there was virtually 
no competition, and high power and speed were not a necessity. As 
the boats increased in numbers, however, competition became keener, 
and the first types of boats with their small power were quickly 
thrown into the shade by the newer types, i itiol averaged between 
45 and 55 feet in length, with 45 to 75 horsepower engines. 
When motive power was introduced in the vessels, it was natural 
that the fishermen should soon introduce winches for the purpose 
of hauling in the nets, as the whole work could then be done by the 
one engine. 
The purse seine vessels are built with rounded sterns. On an 
stevated section of the stern is set a movable platform on a pivot. 
The after end of this platform has a long roller. The purse seine 
is stowed on this platform, the head rope with corks on one side 
and the foot line on the other, so that there will be no tangling when 
the seine is paid out. 
When the lookout sights a school of fish, the seiner is run down 
close to it and a rowboat launched. One man takes his place in 
this with the rope from one end of the seine and acts as a pivot, 
while the seiner circles around the school, the crew paying out the 
seine as she moves along. When it is all out, the vessel runs along- 
side the rowboat and takes aboard the other rope. Attaching this 
and the rope from the other end to the power winch, the circle around 
the fish is rapidly narrowed, and the slack of the seine as it comes in 
is stowed back on the platform. Around the bottom of the seme 
and through galvanized-iron rings about 5 inches in diameter runs 
the purse line. As this is hauled into the boat, the open space at 
