In-Seine

After setting a load of traps yesterday, Cap informed me that we wouldn't be heading "down below" to the southard to pick up any traps due to the dense fog and increasing wind. Instead we headed up the Sound to check out the herring operation.

In "Practicing Forgiveness" I described a dragger that passed us heading north to pick up herring. Turns out this was only the beginning of a procession of ships. A very odd looking sardine carrier passed us during the day yesterday. It had minimal freeboard, sitting very low in the water, an aft wheelhouse and outriggers that seemed to dwarf the narrow craft.

Upon our arrival on the scene, I was surprised to see a dragger that must have been 100 ft in length. We didn't see them in action since they had just finished a set. Cap has described how the operation works here. There is an island that sits close to shore and this is used as a barrier to contain the herring. The northern and southern ends of the island are "shut off" with a seine (stretching from shore to island). The fish are heading south, so when the northern net is opened, the fish are contained in the southern net. Then the seine is hauled back to harvest the fish.

However, this site is also a spot of contention by the local lobstermen. It has been an unwritten rule traditionally, that whoever seines in this area has the right to fish there. In other words, it's a designated fishing grounds (due to the convenient geography) and whoever claims it is entitled to stay there and fish as long as herring are present. However, times are hard and fishermen are contentious. Someone recently stove up the purse seine out of jealousy and ruined a set. Luckily the damage was repairable and the operation has resumed.

When I got back to the landing, I ran into an old classmate who is involved with the process. She enlightened me a bit as to the workings of purse seining. Apparently the huge vessels that we've witnessed passing to and from the site have fish pumps aboard. They lower a huge shute of some sort into the middle of the seine after a set and suck the fish right out of it. Afterward, there are still herring left in the sein. At this point, (wo)man power is required to empty the net. That's when the ol' heave ho comes in and they pull the net aboard, emptying the remaining fish into fish trays.

As we were talking a small plane passed overhead, piloted by a local man who scouts for herring from the air. You can actually see where the fish are from above, since they agitate the water's surface. He can call in to fishermen once he finds a school and report where it is.

There's a local seining boat that's named "In Seine Yo." It's kinda silly, but I like the pun. It seems that the whole town has gone in-seine over herring!