Net Assembly and Design
Net Design
Gannet Nets can design a custom net based on consultation, or it can have a net assembled to the customers specifications. Please contact us if you are interested in a custom-designed net.
Assembled Seine Nets
Assembled seines come in two main categories, salmon seines and round haul seines.
Salmon seining, in simple terms, is a method of collecting incoming ocean run salmon in a net, and then trapping them in the bunt. It is a process that can take up to 30 minutes, from setting the net in a straight, or in a shallow curve shape, to ‘closing’ the net, getting both ends of the net together at the side of the vessel.
Salmon seines are usually shallow in relation to their length.
Round haul seining is where the intention is to trap fish, located visually (with the use of a sonar or spotter pilot), in a single deployment, then closing the net in the time it takes to complete a circle, ensuring that both ends of the net come together so pursing can start.
Sardines, anchovy, herring, mackerel, capelin, and menhaden are examples of round haul seine fisheries.
Different Assembled Nets
Assembled nets for Salmon Seining
As far as I know, Salmon seine nets are specific to the Pacific Northwest. They vary in length and depth according to local regulations, but they are generally in the 225fm to 300fm range for length, anywhere from 200 meshes deep to 450 meshes deep in Alaska, and up to 800 meshes deep in Puget Sound.
They vary a lot in design, based on where you tend to fish, the type of bottom, the depth, and how you like to fish. This is one seine fishery that has experimented the most in the types of materials used. UHMWPE (Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene) netting has had a huge influence on these seines.
I have years of experience in trials of various high performance fibers, both for the netting, but also the lines used in seines.
I first introduced this to the salmon fishery back in 2010. At the time, I was working for one of the largest netting manufacturers in the world, and I saw the need for an ultra high strength netting. Initially, it was made mostly from Dyneema™ from DSM of the Netherlands, now other manufacturers have their fibers used in the manufacturing of such netting.
High performance fiber in a seine net allows for a dramatic reduction in the weight and volume of your net. It can allow for a seine net to be 'towed,' so in heavy currents, you can hold your position or make forward progress if there is not much tide or current.
It can also make the stacking of the net less work. I have one customer in Cornwall, UK, who can stack his high performance net as easily with two crew members, as his previous traditional, all nylon net using three crew members.
Assembled nets for Round Haul seine fisheries
I refer to salmon seining first because it is in my back yard and what I started with, but in the world of seining, salmon seining is the outlier.
Round haul fishing is the most common type of seine fishing.
This is where a targeted school of fish, found by a spotter pilot, sonar or by sight, is encircled by the seine to trap the fish within the circle.
In this type of seining, the sinking speed of the net, along with the ease and speed of pursing, are critical factors—factors I have focused a lot of attention on.
This type of seining can take place in deep water without a chance of the net ever touching the bottom, or it can be in water depth far shallower than the net is deep, leaving much of the net in contact with the bottom.
The design of the net should take into account this range of fishing situations, along with considering the capacity of the vessel, and the equipment on the vessel.
Assembly Techniques
Click here to watch a video of a repair on an Ikore hanging loop and Itsaskorda cover to core ‘sticking.’ High performance netting has its advantages and disadvantages, but I can help make sure you get the most for your investment.
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