Maybe you are an outgoing person, and this time you have decided to explore the world of fishing. Obviously, you may get some professional fishing individuals or even an instructor at the lakeside who will take you through the process. However, before you get on that boat, you need first to familiarize yourself with each aspect of fishing.
Fishing nets work by trapping fish within their meshwork. Fishing nets are structured as meshes so they may be dragged through the water with little resistance. However, the openings in the mesh are small enough so that fish caught within are unable to escape.
Therefore, you will need to know what precisely fishing nets are, how they function, and why they are used. This article will take you through all that information and even more so that you also equip yourself with a technique or two that you might use to challenge the fishing professionals or the instructor. Therefore, continue reading to the end.
How do fishing cast nets work?
Before anything else, you need to understand what fishing nets are. Fishing nets are simply nets used to trap fish in the water and get them out of the water. Fishing nets vary according to the type of material used, like silk, nylon, or even grass. These materials are then manipulated into mesh-like clothing through forming of stiff knots.
First, what is a fishing cast net? Other people refer to a cast net as a throw net. A cast net has a unique design due to its circular shape. It also has well-distributed loads around the edge to make the net sink to a desirable depth during fishing. Second, how do fishing cast nets work? The name casting or throw nets tells it all. The individual fishing throws the net in the air, and before the net lands on the water surface, it gets a chance to spread out.
Once the net reaches the water surface, the lead weights enable the net to slowly sink into the water and spread evenly to capture as many fish as possible. After the net traps enough fish inside, the fisherman pulls the net back to remove the trapped fish. Note that you need to start with fishing in shallow waters for a beginner, which require lighter nets than when fishing in deeper waters.
What do lighter fishing cast nets mean? The weight of the lead weights around the edge primarily determines the casting or throw net weight. Of course, the material used to make the net also contributes to the overall weight, but the leads’ weight is what sinks the cast net to the bottom of the water body. For a cast net to deliver the best services for you, you have to put the weight that you can comfortably throw into consideration.
You don’t want to experience a situation where you are unable to throw the net into the air perfectly. Note that if the net doesn’t spread out well in the air, it will also not spread out well in the water. You will therefore end up catching fewer fish than you had expected. For expert throwers, professional instructors, and experienced fishers, the standard weight of the lead weights should be approximately 1.5 pounds.
How do fish get caught in nets?
First, fish often get caught in nets because of their nature of traveling in large groups. Most of the time, fish find themselves entrapped in nets unknowingly. In this case, fish are known to travel in groups known as schools. This means that the fish on the school’s outer layer should raise the alarm whenever they see any approaching danger.
According to scientific explanations, the fact that fish travel in schools gives even the outside fish the perception of being safer. However, it is only until a few fish are trapped in the nets that they realize that they are in danger. Does it mean that fish traveling in large groups feel safer while in a large group, thus forgetting to protect their safety? Yes.
This is the case since it also explains why fishers often catch many fish of the same species during fishing. This is because they were traveling together when they got trapped in the net.
Secondly, fish get caught in nets due to the varying designs of the fishing nets. It is important to note that most materials used to make fishing nets are invisible in water, and indeed it becomes difficult for fish to identify them. For instance, fish get trapped in gill nets due to the monofilament design of the nets.
This design makes the nets invisible in water. By the time fish sense the presence of a gill net around and tries to swim to safety, it has already been trapped inside the mesh-like net design. Additionally, since gill nets are mesh-like structures, they tend to permit passage of the head of the fish, and in the process, the fish gets stuck in the mesh openings due to their gill casings. Any fish approach to back out of the mesh openings might not be successful since the gills get trapped in the nets in the process.
Furthermore, there are other nets with seine net designs. Fish can easily see these kinds of traps. However, by the time they see the nets, they are already entrapped in them. The principle behind catching fish using the seine nets is grouping them unknowingly so that by the time they realize they are in danger, it is too late.
In addition, fish also get caught in the nets due to trawling of the nets. Trawling is a fishing method that large fishing boats use to drag trawling nets on the deep-sea level. Fish get caught in these nets due to the dragging force that the nets get from the moving boats.
Do whales get caught in fishing nets?
Did you know that approximately 300,000 small whales, porpoises, and dolphins breathe their last breath annually while entangled in fishing nets (https://www.worldwildlife.org/threats/bycatch)? Bycatch is when fishermen unintentionally capture untargeted fish species in their nets during the net fishing process. in other scenarios, even larger fish species like whales get stuck in the nets.
However, entanglement is when larger aquatic animals like whales find themselves in the middle of lost nets in the sea. With the above information already laid out to you, it is clear that even whales get caught inside fishing nets. However, most of the time, fishermen do not intend to catch them, but they get caught due to the large sizes of the fishing nets.
Actually, bycatching and entanglement have become so widespread in seas that authorities have had to come in to prevent further deaths of whales and other cetaceans. When larger aquatic animals such as whales get caught inside fishing nets, it becomes difficult to find food. Consequently, they begin starving and eventually drown due to a lack of enough energy to break loose from the ropes.
Luckily, there are few instances where some giant whales break the strings and become free once again. However, this is only possible for the strong ones. Small whales become overwhelmed by the ropes and end up drowning.
How does a fishing boat’s net work?
Fishing boat nets work primarily through the idea of trawling. Trawling is a fishing technique where a fishing net is attached to one or several boats and then made to sink to the bottom of the water body. Therefore, fishing occurs when the boats pull the fishing net along the sea bed, collecting all the fish that the net comes across. It is crucial to note that the name used to refer to the fishing boat nets is trawls.
Fishing boat nets are used to trap targeted fish species, but sometimes they catch a variety of ocean life that is usually returned into the sea. The boats drag heavy gear across the sea bed, which might damage parts of the seafloor habitat that are sensitive. However, modern technology such as using modified fishing gear has effectively reduced the harmful effects of bottom trolling using fishing boat nets. You can also protect sensitive habitats on the seabed by limiting the areas where trawling is permitted.
Conclusion
To conclude, it is essential to know that despite the investment currently in the fishing industry, the protection of aquatic life is paramount. Therefore, you should have a limit on the quantity of fish you want to catch to protect certain species of fish from extinction. Additionally, since you now know what cast nets are, you can explore cast nest fishing.
Remember to begin with shallow waters and don’t become a danger to yourself or even the aquatic life. However, with the help of a professional instructor, you are better positioned to explore even deep water fishing. When casting nets into the water, first be sure of the weight you can comfortably handle to avoid being overwhelmed in the process. You should also know that sometimes during fishing, you might catch larger fish species like whales which can easily get entangled in the nets.
