Types of Fishing

Netting The most common form of netting is "Set" netting, or "Gill" netting. Most nets have a series of floats at the top, and a series of weights at the bottom that keep the net upright in the water. Fish are caught as they are swim into the net, The size of the mesh in the the set net determines the size and species of fish are caught. Used properly, this method is one of the most selective fishing methods a fisher can use. Bottom Gill Netting The basic design if this net is similar to the surface net, but it uses lighter floats and heavier weights so that the net sinks to the bottom. Haul ropes are attached to marker buoys so that the net can be recovered.

Rock Lobster Potting Next to netting, potting is one of the oldest forms of fishing and was practised widely throughout the Pacific well before the arrival of European settlers. Pots are usually made from steel mesh and can be either square or round, The pot is baited with a piece of fish and lowered to the sea floor, with a float and marker rope coming to the surface. The lobster enters the pot from the top, and once inside is unable to escape. The pot is lifted by a winch on the boat. The lobsters are measured. Any undersize lobsters are returned to the sea. If handled correctly, this process does not harm the fish. Pots of slightly different shapes are also used to catch Blue Cod and Octopus.

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Purse Seining Purse Seining is used to catch fish fish that feed on the surface such as Tuna, Trevally, Kahawai or Mackerel. The net is not used to catch but rather surround them. When a school of fish is located, a small boat ( called a skiff) is dropped with one end of the net, The fishing boat and the skiff, then tow each end of the net until it surrounds the fish, Once this process has been completed ropes at the bottom of the net are drawn in , and the fish are now completely enclosed. The net is then drawn in until all the fish are concentrated into a small space alongside the fishing boat, While this is happening the skiff will often sail away from the boat, on the opposite side to the net( but still attached to the boat) to ensure that the weight does not make the fishing boat tip over. The fish are taken aboard using large scoop nets, or they are pumped in.

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Trolling Trolling is a very simple method of fishing that is used mainly in the Tuna and YellowTail Kingfish fisheries. A boat sets a series of lines and baited hooks that are attached to long poles extended from the boat. The hooks are then dragged through the water as the boat travels at 2 to 10 knots. Between 5 and 21 lines are usually trolled behind vessels, depending on its size, Weights can be attached to the lines if the target fish is found at greater depth.

Mussel Farming Mussels are farmed using a series of buoys and ropes, A line of buoys is anchored to the sea floor at both ends, using a rope . These long lines an not exceed 110m in length, Attached to the longline at regular intervals is the growing line, which is a single rope that can be up to several kilometres long. The length of this rope is determined by the depth of water that the farm occupies, and the maximum depth is desired. The use of a single rope was pioneered in New Zealand, Prior to its development, singled weighted ropes were dropped at regular intervals from the longlines. Mussels spat is attached to the rope, and encased in a mesh stocking that dissolves in seawater over a few weeks,by which time the spat is normally attached to the line. The mussels are harvested when ready by lifting the lines and removing the mussels from it. Mussel farms tend to act as man made reefs and attract a large number of small fish. The main commercial farming areas are in the Marlborough Sounds, around the Coromandel Peninsula, and in Big Glory Bay on Stewart Island.

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Dredging Dredging is used to collect oysters and scallops. The vessel drops a steel frame dredge to the sea floor and it is dragged across the seabed. The shellfish are collected and then sorted on deck. The dredge shown is used in the scallop industry, The dredge used in the oyster fishery is a flat construction made up of steel ring mesh.

Long Lining This is a way of catching fishing using a line and baited hooks, There are two main varieties of long lining used in New Zealand. Surface Long Lines are used mainly in the Tuna fishery, They consist of a main line that can be many kilometres long that is supported in the water by a series of floats. Off the main line are branch lines up to 50 metres long. Each branch line carries a baited hook, There can be up to 3000 hooks on long line. The line is set as the boat move forward, which can take from 2 to 6 hours. One the line is fully extended, it is then hauled in. This process can take up to 12 hours. Bottom longlines are similar in concept to surface longlines but are significantly shorter in length, At one end the line contains an anchor which is dropped to the sea floor. The other end has a weight attached. Depending on the length of the line a series of hauling lines will be attached that come to the surface and are marked with buoys. The line is ten set from a moving boat, and left for between 6 and 12 hours, before being hauled in using the surface lines.

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Squid Jigging Jigging is carried out on very specialised boats at night. Very powerful lights illuminate the water, attracting the squid which gather in the shaded area under the boat. Dropped along the sides of the boar are lengths of line with lures set at short intervals. These are set through a pulley arrangement and automatically jigged up and down. When the machine controlling the line senses that the strain in the line has gone above a certain point the line is hauled in. The hooks on the lure do not contain any bards so that as the lures are recovered over the end rollers, the squid fall off into collecting areas.

Trawling Trawling is the most important method of harvesting fish in New Zealand waters, It involves one or two boats towing a very large net, either on the bottom for fish such as SOMETHING and Cardinal fish or a lesser depth, called mud water trawling) The net consist of several parts, Strong steel cables ( Warps) connect the net to the trawler. The net is held open by two large trawl doors( Trawl boards) which act as hydrodynamic kites and stop the moth of the net from closing, The weight of the boards also determines the depth at which the net will operate, Fish enter the net through the mouth and then make their way to the other end, called the "codend". This par of the net contains the smallest mesh size. The size of this is controlled by law. Undersized fish are able to swim through the mesh unharmed.

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Pair Trawling Pair Trawling is used on smaller boats and at shallower depths, One of the lines from the net is passed to a second trawler and two boats tow in tandem, using the distance between them to assist in keep;ing the mouth of the net open. Prior to hauling the net in, the line is passed back to the first boat, and the net is hauled onto one boat.

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