Via Youtube: Fish harvesters use curtains of netting suspended by a system of floats and weights to catch salmon. The fine netting is almost invisible so salmon unwittingly swim into the mesh. As they try to back out, their gill covers get snagged and the fish becomes entangled in the net.
Fish harvesters set their rectangular nets from either the stern or bow of their vessels. Altering the mesh size, the way in which nets are suspended in the water and the amount of time they soak allows fish harvesters to selectively target certain species or sizes. Because of their effectiveness at catching salmon, gill-net fishery openings tend to be relatively short, allowing fish harvesters only hours or a few days to net their catch.
For more info, visit these gillnet fisheries pages:
BC North Coast: http://thisfish.info/fishery/salmon-g…
BC Vancouver Island: http://thisfish.info/fishery/salmon-g…
BC Fraser River: http://thisfish.info/fishery/salmon-g…
BC Barkley Sound: http://thisfish.info/fishery/salmon-f…
CREDITS:
Producers: Goodforks
Editing: Blue Chip Productions
Videography: Kobb Media
Funding support for this video provided, in part, by the BC Government’s Buy Local Program; delivered by the Investment Agriculture Foundation of BC with funding from the BC Ministry of Agriculture.
Special thanks to the Canadian Council of Professional Fish Harvesters for providing video and photographs for the production of the video, and to Captain Victor Thibault and his crew.