November 1966 



COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW 



25 



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HEADROPE 100' / 



FOOTROPE 100' / 



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Fig, 3 - Components of a lOO-foot channel net, 



in diameter, and the net is "taken up" one- 

 third, i.e,, 9 meshes occupy the space of 6. 



Accessory equipment consists of a power 

 boat, anchors, rope, staffs, buoys, and often 

 a 14- to 16 -foot skiff. The open, shallow- 

 draft boats range from 17 to 26 feet long and 

 are powered with modified, 85- to 300 -hp, 

 automobile engines. The power boat is used 

 for transportation to and from the fishing 

 grounds, carry and set channel -net anchors 

 and, occasionally, to fish the net. The skiff, 

 however, usually carries and fishes the net. 

 Stock or plow -type anchors of 25 to 50 pounds 

 are commonly used to hold the net in fishing 

 position, although stakes driven into the bot- 



tom are frequently used for this purpose. The 

 anchors are attached to bridles on each wing 

 of the net by 100 -foot (or longer) lengths of 

 2 -inch rope, A 25 -foot line suspended from 

 a buoy is usually fastened to the shank of each 

 anchor to help free it from the bottom (fig. 

 1). The mouth of the net is held open by 

 three upright staffs (pine or gum saplings) 

 between the foot and head ropes, usually one 

 inthe middle and one at each end. Accessory 

 staffs are placed between the center and end 

 staffs in wider nets. End staffs are 10 to 16 

 feet long and 4 to 6 inches in diameter at the 

 bottom. The center staff is 16 to 18 feet long 

 and 2 to 3 inches in diameter at the bottom. 

 A rope of at least 4 -inch diameter, buoyed by 

 2 or 3 corks, runs from the top of the center 

 staff and encircles the bunt of the cod end 

 (fig, 1). This line is used to cinch the bunt 

 and lift the cod end out of the water. Neither 

 corks nor leads are used on the head and foot 

 ropes of most channel nets. 



SETTING AND FISHING THE NET 



When loading the net in the skiff prior to 

 departure on a fishing trip, the end staffs are 

 placed aboard first with their bottoms point- 

 ing toward the bow. The cod end is then 

 pulled loosely into the stern and the bridles 

 on both end staffs are left clear. The an- 

 chors and attached ropes are placed in the 

 boat, the rope ends tied t o g et h e r, and the 

 ropes coiled into the stern, A buoy attached 

 to the joined anchor ropes permits the fish- 

 erman to retrieve these ropes when the net is 

 being set. 



The net is set only at night on ebb tide. 

 After a fishing site is selected, one anchor is 



Fig. 4 - Fisherman setting channel net. 



