726 
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 
suited chiefly from the closure, by legislation, of many districts which were frequented 
by the drag seines. This gear is still used in the region, but it is now of very little 
importance. 
Table 10 . — Puget Sound drag seine licenses, 1897-1984 
Year 
Number 
Year 
Number 
Year 
Number 
1897 
59 
1911 
307 
1923-... 
111 
1898 
59 
1912 __ 
243 
1924 
109 
1899 
125 
1913 
238 
1925 
144 
1900 - 
114 
1914 
354 
1926 
130 
1901 
74 
1915 
187 
1927 
135 
1902 
74 
1916. 
189 
1928 
120 
1903 
171 
1917 
218 
1929 
123 
1904 
95 
1918 
185 
1930 
123 
1905 
69 
1919 
187 
1931 
104 
1906 - 
123 
1920 
144 
1932 
84 
1907 
176 
1921 
116 
1933 
109 
1908 
283 
1922 
108 
1934 
90 
1909 
242 
1910 
247 
DEVELOPMENT OF THE PURSE SEINE 
EARLY SEINES 
The purse seine is a net not unlike the drag seine in shape, but much longer and 
deeper. Its chief characteristic is the purse line, a stout rope or cable, rove through 
metal rings attached to its lower edge. This net is used in deep water. When a 
school of fish have been observed the net is set around them, the two ends are brought 
together, and the purse line hauled in. This closes the bottom of the net, trapping 
the fish within it. Although the purse seine is inseparably associated at the present 
time with the highly specialized vessel from which it is fished, the seine itself has 
undergone but little change, except in size, whereas the vessel is the product of long 
years of development and experience. 
The date this gear was originally introduced on Puget Sound is a matter of con- 
jecture. Hittell (1882) reported it to be an important form of gear in 1882. He 
stated that the fishery was prosecuted almost entirely by Indians and that the nets 
were from 50-80 fathoms in length, and 4-8 fathoms in depth. These seines were 
set from large canoes from which they were also pursed when the set was complete. 
Other canoes cruised around the net, the crews beating the water with their paddles 
to keep the fish schooled. Coho, pink, chum, and king are listed as the species 
caught, and from two to five thousand fish might be taken at a single haul. Hittell 
offers no information as to the date of introduction or as to the number of years that 
these nets had been used. 
SCOW SEINES 
This type of fishing must have undergone a considerable development in a brief 
space of time. Collins (1892) reports purse seines to be “the most effective form of 
apparatus yet used in the salmon fishery,” and states that they were introduced in 
1886. They are described as being approximately 200 fathoms long and 25 fathoms 
deep. They were set from a four-oared skiff, the after 8-foot portion of which was 
decked to form a platform for stowing the seine. A scow 20 feet long and 8 feet 
wide, equipped with a hand winch, was used for pursing the net and carrying the 
