A Stitch in Time 



NETMAKING 

 IS BECOMING 

 A LOST ART 



By Ann Green • Photos by Scott D. Taylor 



iside a large building stacked 

 with piles of webbing, Heidi Roberts 

 whips a long needle in and out of a 

 shrimp net so fast that her head bobs 

 in a rhythmic fashion. 



Her father, Roger Harris, and 

 brother, Bubba Harris, work beside 

 her stitching a 36-foot net for a shrimp 

 trawl. In the back, another brother, 

 Kerry Harris, hangs a net on a line for 

 a crab trawl. 



Each day, the family practices the 

 time-honored craft of netmaking at 

 Harris Net Shop in Atlantic. The work 

 is tedious and precise, requiring the 

 hand sewing of each net. Harris has 

 callouses on his hands from more than 

 30 years of stitching nets. 



"Netmaking is like woodcarving," 

 says Roger Harris, who carves duck 

 decoys as a hobby. "It is a God-given 

 talent. Not everyone understands it." 



Continued 



COASTWATCH 15 



