Netting Knowledge 



BY KATHY HART 



Like any craft, the art of net- 

 making has its own unique 

 terminology. Here are a few of 

 the words, phrases and types 

 of nets that pepper a netmaker's 

 language. 



Mesh— Netmakers and 

 fishermen often measure their 

 nets in meshes (sometimes 

 pronounced "marshes"). 

 Meshes refer to the size of the 

 diamond-shaped hole in the 



webbing. A net with large 

 meshes will hold only big fish. 

 To catch smaller fish, a smaller 

 mesh is needed. The N.C. 

 Division of Marine Fisheries 

 sets mesh size limits for nets 

 so that fishermen don't catch 

 too many young fish or non- 

 targeted species. 



Fishermen speak of mesh 

 sizes as bar mesh or stretched 

 mesh. Bar mesh is measured 

 along a strand from one knot 

 to the next. Stretch mesh size 

 is the distance between two 

 opposite knots. 



Doors— Otter" doors, or 

 trawl doors, are door-like 

 structures that spread the 

 mouth of the net and keep it 

 open while the net is being 

 towed. Doors are configured 

 according to the species be- 

 ing caught and may be 

 wooden or metal. 



floats— Along the top line 

 of a net, corks made of plastic 

 are attached at intervals to 

 give a net buoyancy. 



Leads— Along the bottom 

 line of net, pieces of lead or 

 chain are attached to weight 

 the net down and spread it. 



Gill nets— To catch striped 

 bass, mullet, trout, croaker 

 and flounder, fishermen often 

 set gill nets in the state's 

 shallow estuaries. These nets 

 have openings large enough 

 to allow a fish's head to pass, 

 but not its body. When the 

 fish tries to back out of the 

 webbing, it is caught behind 

 the gills. 



A Stitch in Time 



continued 



In fact, some fishermen are almost supersti- 

 tious about their netmaker. yffi&iE /k 



"My son has a reputation for clam nets," 

 Harvey says. "When fishermen bring their clam 

 nets in, they tell me not to touch them. They 

 only want him fooling with their nets." 



But if a fisherman is dissatisfied with his net, 

 others will hear about it, Harvey says. 



"If fishermen aren't catching anything, they 

 always blame it on the net," Harvey says. "You'll 

 hear them talking about it on the VHF radio 

 while they're out fishing. It could be that there's 



something wrong with the trawl doors or the 

 length of the towlines. But they'll blame it on 

 the net every time." 



Steve emphasizes that fishermen shouldn't 

 place all the burden for a net's performance on 

 the netmaker. 



"Today's nets make it easier for inexperi- * 

 enced fishermen to catch fish," Steve says. "But 

 a good fisherman has to know his gear. He has 

 to know how to fine-tune it, and he has to be 

 willing to learn through trial-and-error." 



But regardless of fishermen's complaints, net- 

 makers stand behind their nets. "If you do 

 good quality work, it will speak for itself," 

 Harvey says. 



