In the early days, nets were made of cotton or other natural 

 fibers. With the industrial revolution, cotton webbing became 

 mechanized. Prior to this, fibers were spun to twine, and the 

 twine was knotted into webbing by fishers. 



"I remember fishing with my Dad," says Shepard. "He 

 would take a cotton or linen net and spread it out on two poles 

 to dry out so it wouldn't rot." 



With the invention of synthetic fibers, netmakers switched 

 from cotton to nylon, polyethylene or spectra. The synthetic 

 material comes in bales from the factory. 



"New fabrics like spectra are high in strength and small in 



At bottom, Bubba Harris works on a shrimp trawl, while the 

 shop mascot takes a rest. 



Roger Harris learned the basics ofnetmaking by sewing 

 menhaden nets in Louisiana. 



diameter," says Steve Parrish, who runs a net shop with his 

 wife, Sabrina, in Brunswick County. "The new fabric also 

 allows you to pull nets faster through the water." 



Parrish learned the netmaking trade from his wife's 

 grandfather, Crawford Fulford. 



"He encouraged me and shared his knowledge with me," 

 says Parrish. "He had done netmaking for 50 or 60 years." 



It took Parrish several years to perfect the craft. "It takes 

 five to 10 years to become proficient and fast at netmaking." 



Grand Net Variety 



Nets are tailored to differentiate between species of fish 

 and shellfish. Shrimp nets can be cut and hung to distinguish 

 between pink, white and brown shrimp. 



The netmaker also needs to know the size of the boat, the 

 horsepower of the boat's engine, the number of nets and the 

 water depth. 



"There are as many ideas about making nets as there are 

 fishermen," says North Carolina Sea Grant fisheries specialist 

 Bob Hines. 



Most of the time, the fisher develops his specifications for 

 the net. Then the netmaker makes the design. 



Harris has dozens of patterns stuffed in a small tin box. 

 "Some patterns are in my head, and some are in the box." 

 After designing the net, Harris cuts the net on a taper and sews 

 it together. Fishers use one, two or four nets on shrimp trawls. 



"Sewing a shrimp trawl is like a woman making a dress," 

 says Harris. "We've got yards and yards of cloth. People make 

 all sizes of dresses. We make all sizes of nets." 



When the stitching is complete, Harris hangs the nets on a 

 line inside. Then he puts the nets together in a funnel shape and 

 adds a trap door, a turtle excluder device and a BRD. 



18 SPRING 2000 



