Gill Nets - Seafish

The procedure used when fishing fixed nets is similar whether gill, trammel or tangle nets are being used. The nets are usually fished in groups (referred to as tiers or fleets by industry) with the end of each fleet attached by bridles to a heavy weight or anchor on the seabed.  Each weight or anchor is secured to a marker buoy or dhan flag on the surface by a length of rope equal to about twice the depth of water. Depths of water fished can be from 15 metres to 140 meters, with some fisheries going as deep as 1800 metres (deep-water monk and tangle nets).Length of nets can vary from 50 metres to 200 metres and length of fleets from 300 metres to 2000 metres. The amount of netting being fished (set on the seabed) at any one time can range between 2 kilometres and 30 kilometres and soak times (the time a fleet is left on the seabed to fish) can range from a 6 hour tidal soak to 72 hours. These figures are dependent on which species are being targeted and whether there is any conflict with other boats using mobile fishing gear in the area.

The nets are shot whilst steaming into the tide and are fished along the direction of the tidal stream, rather than across it (there are some exceptions to this). This reduces the chances of the nets being swept over or tangled in the strong tidal conditions found in many areas of the UK. The dhan is thrown overboard and the vessel steams away from it paying out the rope until it reaches the anchor which is quickly dropped overboard. The fleet of nets follows until the full length of netting has run out and the second anchor and dhan follow. Retrieval of the gear is carried out in the same order with first the dhan, then the anchor and net followed by the remaining anchor and dhan. Virtually all boats now use net haulers to help them retrieve the gear. The basic design consists of a rotating drum covered with rubber, which is driven by a hydraulic system run off the main engine. The rubber grips the net, allowing the hauler to take the strain of the net and pull it aboard.  Variations on the basic design include belts or rubber spheres, which exert pressure on top of the netting creating more friction with the lower drum and the netting making it easier to haul the net.