UHMWPE, like many of my products. This is not your usual HMWPE or UHMWPE, this is an extremely high quality virgin grade UHMWPE, extruded in the USA.

I could not test these like stainless rings because they do not reach a breaking point as much as they reach a ‘yield’ point, where the UHMWPE starts to stretch. This material will not shatter like the brittle nylon rings, it slowly elongates. You won’t lose a set of fish for them breaking, you may have to replace a ring or two if they deform too much. With thousands sold I have not had any break. One person in Kodiak sawed through a few of his trying to get off a really bad snag.

The unique Basque Itsaskorda style, with built in hanging loops, is easier/faster if you intend to assemble your own corkline, while the ‘stuck’ Gannet Braid takes much more time to assemble. Both are durable long term options.

A ribline is used when fishing in water depth shallower than the net depth and you want to increase the chances of getting over bad ground. It is a line above the leadline or chain, from which the ring bridles and rings are attached. This helps pull the weighted bottom of the net up and over any obstacles like rocks or extremely soft silty mud. It also helps prevent catching unwanted shells, crabs or lobster. Pursing from a Ribline reduces the friction, therefore the strain on the winch hauling the purseline.

The unique Basque Itsaskorda style, with built in hanging loops, is easier/faster if you intend to assemble your own Ribline. The ‘stuck’ Gannet Braid takes much more time to assemble. Both are durable long term options.

I think this comes down to budget and preference. All our winch lines use UHMWPE.

The strongest for any diameter is a standard construction 12 strand UHMWPE, designed for maximum strength using parallel fibers in each of the 12 strands.

In the world of small seine vessels, I often see this standard 12 strand used in a diameter far stronger than necessary given the power of the winch being used, so I developed the Gannet Braid, where each of the 12 strands is itself braided. This makes it far more abrasion resistant, without losing any of the easy to handle and splice characteristics of standard 12 strand. In day to day use it will last longer than standard 12 strand.

The 3rd type is the Braid on Braid where the UHMWPE cover is tightly braided over the standard 12 strand UHMWPE core. This takes all the standard 12 strand strength and adds an incredibly durable cover to protect the core. This construction is stiffer than the other two, which, like steel wire, can prevent the winch paying out if there is not enough weight on the end of the line. This is not a line you can splice, it comes with factory spliced and covered eyes.

Knotted netting will grip better than knotless netting in many net haulers. Some fleets I work with see the cost of maintenance of knotless nets is less than knotted nets. Knotless nets can come in greater meshes deep than knotted netting. Knotless netting is generally less expensive than the same strength of knotted netting, due to the speed of manufacturing. In particularly abrasive applications, like repetitive rolling of fish aboard where the netting is rubbing the rail underweight, the knotless has less wear points than the knotted equivalent, and UHMWPE, size for size will take more abuse than nylon.

Nylon has withstood the test of time, it is a great netting. UHMWPE has its strengths (stronger, lighter, does not absorb water) and weaknesses (affected by wind when hauling, can tend to tangle fish more, expensive) .

It is often a budgetary decision; you can spend 3 times the amount on the same strength of UHMWPE as nylon. Or it can be for certain performance requirements. In Alaska, seining can be like pair trawling, with 2 powerful vessels towing the seine net between them. This becomes about water flow and weight and the much smaller/thinner/lighter UHMWPE allows much more water to pass through. Limited deck space can be a factor, a small boat can perhaps be more competitive if it can fish with a larger UHMWPE net. Safety is another possible reason. I have customers that simply want less weight on their stern and UHMWPE, strength for strength, has 60-70% less weight, and it does not absorb any water.