26 



COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW 



Vol.28, No. 11 



lowered and the other is carried across the 

 channel until the joined ropes are taut, at 

 which point the second anchor is lowered and 

 set. A minimum tidal current velocity of 2 

 knots is required for the effective use of the 

 channel net; otherwise, the current will not 

 "bloom" or fill out the bunt. When the ebb 

 tide has reached a minimum velocity of 1 or 

 2 knots, the buoy marking the joined anchor 

 ropes is retrieved and the top end staff is tied 

 to one anchor rope by means of the bridle and 

 placed inthe water (fig. 4). The tide is then al- 

 lowed to pull the net from the boat. In se- 

 quence, the center staff is lowered and the 

 cod end is thrown overboard so as not to foul 

 on the bottom of the center staff. Whenthe 

 remaining end staff is tied to the other anchor 

 rope and placed in the water, the net is then 

 in fishing position. One of the anchors may 

 have to oe moved to properly align the net 

 with the current. 



^ ■ M 



Fig. 5 - Fisherman lifting cod end of channel net into boat. 



The skiff is positioned over the cod end of 

 the net by securing the bow to the rope lead- 

 ing from the center staff. When removing 

 the catch, the fisherman first brings the cod 

 end to the side of the boat by pulling on the 

 center line (fig. 5), shaking the catch into the 

 cod end in the process. He then lifts the cod 



end from the water, allows it to drain over 

 the gunwale, pulls it aboard, and empties it 

 into the cockpit. The cod end is then retied 

 and returned to the water. The shrimp are 

 separated from the catch (fig. 6) and trans- 

 ferred to a burlap bag (fig. 7), Under normal 

 conditions the net is emptied about every 15 

 minutes. 



Fig. 6 - Culling the catch. 



Fig. 7 - Bagging the culled catch. 



About one-half hour before the tide slacks, 

 (i.e., at late ebb), the channel net is taken 

 aboard by freeing one anchor and letting the 

 net trail inthe current. The boat is positioned 

 broadside to the current while the staffs and 

 net are pulled aboard. It is important that the 

 net be removed from the water before the tide 

 changes, otherwise it would turn inside out. 

 Normally the skiff with net and anchors is left 



