SEINING of FISHING NET

This is the first of the activities where the fish are harvested from the ponds with a seine net. The seine net has two ropes at opposite ends; the floats line which keeps the net afloat and the lead line which due to its heavy weight scratches the bottom of the pond prevent fish escapes. It has bag-like structure at the middle to hold the fish captured during seining. When working a seine, it is very important to use the net properly in order to maximize fish catch. It starts with two people holding each end of the rope at opposite sides of the pond. The two seiners walk deeper into the pond, parallel to the edges of the pond walls. They move slowly along the stretch of the pond from one point (i.e. seining start point), to the other (i.e. seining end point). As they move, they widely stretch and spread the net towards the deeper sections of the pond to increase seining efficiency. This process is known as net setting.

After setting the net, two extra people are called in to help with the hauling of the net. The extra hands stand on the pond dyke and pull the net out as the other two in the water, ensures that the lead lines are kept at the bottom of the pond towards the seining end point. Fish captured are held in the bag-like structure. It is best to seine rapidly and keep the lead line at the bottom of the pond when seining, in order to reduce fish escape.

* [Click here] to stream a video presentation on the Seining process.