Purse Seine Fishing

Today, we got to witness and learn about purse seine fishing right outside our window. Greg and I were fascinated by the fishing boats in the bay, each one accompanied by a smaller skiff. We could tell these two boats were working together to catch fish, so we asked "Uncle Google" about fishing methods in Alaska. 

Turns out that we were witnessing purse seine fishing for salmon right in the Kachemak Bay outside our window. Here's what we learned - purse seine fishing is a technique that uses a large vertical net to surround and enclose schools of fish. 

The larger boat is partnered with a smaller skiff to lay out the net which has floats on the top and weights on the bottom. The skiff then moves its end so that the net is in a circle. Crew members on the large boat and the skiff "slap" the water with long wooden poles which forces the fish into the net. Then the bottom of the net is tightened like a drawstring purse capturing a large number of fish. Once the bottom is tightened, the net is hauled up by a crane on the large boat. The whole process takes more than an hour. 

Once that load of fish is captured, the two boats start the entire process again. We observed this kind of fishing going on for 12 plus hours - no doubt that the life of a commercial fishman is a hard one!