FEATURES 



THE CHANNEL NET FOR SHRIMP IN NORTH CAROLINA 



By James F. Guthrie* 



From 1950 through 1963, channel nets in 

 North Carolina took over 3 million pounds of 

 brown and pink shrimp. The nets are oper- 

 ated from early spring to late summer in 

 Bogue and Core Sounds, but mainly around 

 Harkers Island, The channel net, a special- 

 ized fishing gear similar in design to a trawl 

 (fig. 1), was developed during the mid-1930s 

 in coastal North Carolina and has been gen- 

 erally confined to use there . Burkenroad 



Fig. 1 - The channel net in operation. 



Fig. 2 - Map showing fishing areas. 



(1949) and Broad (1951a, 1951b) referred to 

 the use of channel nets in the straits near 

 Harkers Island, N. C. (fig. 2). A bag net 

 closely resembling the channel net is used to 

 take bay shrimp in California (Bonnot, 1932). 



Using tidal currents and staffs to maintain 

 its shape and position, the channel net fishes 

 the surface and middle depths rather than the 

 lower depths. The net's possibilities were 

 first realized by fishermen from Harkers Is- 

 land after a storm in 1933 enlarged Barden 

 Inlet (inside Cape Loo kout) and t he r eb y 

 created conditions that resulted in stronger 

 tidal currents in Back and Core Sounds, The 

 fishermen observed that large numbers of 

 shrimp used Barden Inlet and other channels 

 whenmovingout of the estuaries to the ocean; 

 the shrimp were swept along on ebb tide and 

 crowded the near-shore areas out of the main 

 current on flood tide. In 1936 an enterprising 

 fisherman set an otter trawl in nearby Beau- 

 fort Inlet between two anc ho r e d boats and 

 made a good catch of shrimp on an ebbing tide. 

 By 1938 this method of fishing and the net it- 

 self had evolved into their present state. 

 Since 1958, however, use of the channel net 

 has decreased markedly, although annual 

 earnings per net have remained near or ap- 

 preciably above the average established dur- 

 ing the years 1950-57. 



DESCRIPTION OF GEAR 



Figure 3 shows the main parts of a typical 

 channel net. The numbers shown represent 

 the number of meshes. A net may be as much 

 as 100 feet across the mouth, vary from 8- 

 to 14 -feet deep, and have a cod end that ex- 

 tends about 40 feet b e hi nd the wings. The 

 wing and body meshes measure 4-inch and 

 are constructed of No. 6 thread; the cod-end 

 meshes are g-inch and made of No. 9 thread. 

 The foot and head ropes are at least f-inch 



-'-Biological Technician, Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, Biological Laboratory, Beaufort, N. C. 



DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

 Fish and Wildlife Service 

 Sep. No. 773 



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