Salmon seining season starts with plenty of boat preparation. Nets must be mended, boats must be painted, and engines must be tuned. The average boat maintenance per season averages around 20,000 dollars, assuming nothing major has gone wrong. This year, we are primarily focused on the net.
At 1440 feet, the net is just over a 1/4 of a mile long and about 74 feet at its deepest. The key to purse seining involves the ability to close or “purse” the bottom of the net. Once the bottom of the net is closed, its just a matter of hauling the gear in. The net can take quite a beating over the course of the season. Dragging it along the bottom and fishing in crazy tides, tends to stretch and distort the overall shape. The main objective is to mend the holes and square up the top and bottom of the nets. Here’s a timelapse of the process in action at the Fisherman’s Terminal in Seattle.
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- Season’s first Copper River salmon arrives in Seattle (seattlepi.com)
- Seattle chefs await Alaska Copper River salmon (thenewstribune.com)
- San Juan Islands hatchery chinook fishery picking up steam on the heels of a local salmon derby (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
- Cast your nets wide for sustainable fish (thejc.com)