Seining For Salmon in British Columbia

Seining was for several years considered the most cost efficient of the different commercial salmon fishing methods. This is because the salmon are intercepted on the way to their spawning grounds and they can be harvested in great numbers in a relatively short period of time. The gear and procedure for this type of fishing is very different from the other methods of salmon fishing.

The boats range in size from 40 to 90 feet in length with 60 to 80 feet being most common. The nets are about 15 to 25 fathoms deep and up to 100 fathoms in length. The different sizes are used in different areas and in some cases maximum size nets or mesh size restrictions are required by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. Seiners usually have a crew of 5 including the skipper but crews could number from 3 to 6.

The purse seine gets its name from the way the bottom of the net is closed up to trap the fish. A large rope (about 2 inches thick) is threaded through a series of brass rings (about 6 inches in diameter) attached to the leadline. After the net is set out in a circle, the purse line is wound onto a large hydraulic 'deck winch'. This draws together the lower edge of the net much like purse strings. This changes the shape of the net from a vertically hanging circular plane to something resembling an upside down open umbrella.

Making a Seine Set...

The net or seine is set out over the stern of the vessel in one of two methods. In what is known as an 'open set', a sea anchor approximately 3 feet in diameter is attached to one end of the net and is dropped overboard. The net is then pulled overboard from its position on the stern or from a large spool called the drum. The hydraulic drum is left in a free wheeling position while setting the net. The skipper manouvers the vessel creating a large circle with the net, hopefully around a school of fish. The leadline sinks quite rapidly while the corkline indicates the shape of the set and keeps the net afloat. An open set is most often used when finners or several jumpers are spotted in a concentration. In such a case the skipper will 'close up' immediately and have the crewman manning the deck winch start pursing the net in order to prevent the fish from escaping by diving.

In a 'beach set' the net is tied up to a rock, tree or a previously set iron pin at strategic locations along the salmons migration route. The beach set can be very productive at the right time. It also requires a skillful crew and skipper as it is a somewhat more delicate manouver than the open set and can be quite hazardous. The skipper will choose his time very carefully when beach setting as the salmon move on the flood tide and hold up in bays or meander around on the ebb. The tie ups for beach setting are often on a rocky point or small island at the end of a bay or anywhere along the migration route where it is deep enough to tie to the shore without snagging bottom.

The skiff man immediatly heads for the predetermined tie-up on shore rowing for all he's worth. The beach man feeds the coiled beach line overboard, being careful not to tangle it. One end of this beach line is attached to the end of the net and the other will be tied to shore. The beach man must be sure he has enough line coiled in the bottom of the skiff to allow for the distance to shore from the drop off point, the distance from landfall to the tie-up and the amount of drift of the end of the net. The skiff man often has to row over kelp patches to reach shore and also must contend with wind, tide and sometimes huge swells that could dash them onto the shore.

The beachman must jump ashore with enough rope to reach the tie-up and secure a special knot. This job requires a great deal of nerve, agility and strength. If either one of the skiff crew screw up, it could result in a lost set and possibly a lot of money for the entire crew or even loss of life. If several boats are waiting their turn to set on a strategic tie-up spot as is often the case, it could be several hours before they get another turn. While the skiff crew is tying up to the beach, the skipper runs the net out into a crescent shape so that the fish will swin with the tide into the net. After maintaining the crescent shape for up to twenty minutes, the skipper will tow his end toward shore and at the proper time he will signal the beachman to release the knot. Sometimes if the tide is running hard the beachline will snap under the tremendous strain or a tree tie-up will be pulled out by its roots and the skipper will have to close up early.

Because the web portion of the net is longer than the leadline and corkline the tide causes it to billow out like a sail in the wind while set in tide. This extra web length is called the purchase and is an important design feature of the seine net. As migrating fish run into the net they will turn and swim along its length to try and get by. Because the net is held in a crescent shape, by the time the fish reach the end, they will usually continue in the same circular path they've been travelling and turn to go with the tide which sends them back toward the centre of the net again and because of the purchase in the net, if they dive or swim straight up they will also encounter web because the tide is pushing the web out beyond the corkline and leadline.

Pursing the Seine Net...

As the skiff crew returns to the seiner they cross its bow with the beach line and secure the skiff on the opposite side away from the net. They climb aboard and assist the winch man in hauling the 'breast' or end of the net up to the side of the boat. The breast end is secured to the side of the boat while the drum man starts winding the opposite end onto the drum. The winch man starts winding the purse line onto the deck winch until the bottom of the net is pursed up and the rings eventually break the surface coming up in a bunch at the side of the boat.

A special piece of equipment called a hairpin is thrust through these rings and they are supported from the boom at gunwhale height. In the meantime the drum man has wound approximately half the length of the net back onto the drum by the time the rings come up. Once the hairpin has been inserted, drumming can continue and the winch is allowed to freewheel out so that the purse line can wind onto the drum along with the remainder of the net. As the drum winds on the pursed up portion of the net the rings slide off the hairpin one at a time and are also wound onto the drum with the purse line. By the time the last couple of rings are left on the hairpin, only a small amount of net is left in the water and fish should be visible as they try in vain to escape.

Different procedures are used to haul the fish aboard depending on the amount but in most cases the 'bag' is simply wound in until it comes aboard over the stern roller. Most seiners have a 'drop stern' to aid in hauling large bags of fish aboard. If the bag is too large the fish must be removed a couple of hundred at a time by use of a large dip net called a brailer.

Purse seining has been developed and refined over the years with the use of much specialized equipment. With an experienced crew it can be very efficient. However with the declining stocks and reduced seasons openings can be very much hit and miss. With high overhead and fewer fish, the glory days of salmon seining are all but memories. There are still some good seasons made but they are few and far between just as in the other commercial salmon fisheries.

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