Seining is a fishing technique that has been used in British Columbia for centuries. Seining is done in areas where there are large schools or groups of fish. The net used has weights on the bottom and buoys on the top to keep it afloat. These weights and floats enable the net to stand up in the water and entrap the fish. The net is set to encircle a school of fish, and is then closed off to trap them. The earliest form of seining was drag netting or beach seining.

Fishermen hauling in beach seine nets.
Image © Hilary Stewart. Indian Fishing: Early Methods on the Northwest Coast. p. 87.

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Beach seining was possible only at locations where salmon gathered in large numbers close to shore. At such locations nets could be placed or held on shore by one fisherman while another, in a boat, let out the line and set the net parallel to shore, keeping it in place with stone anchors. The boat would then return to shore, having encircled the school of fish, and hand the line off to another fisherman standing on shore. The two fishermen on shore would then slowly haul in the net, trapping the salmon between the net and the beach.

Drag Seining

Fishermen drag seining.
© BC Archives Image #E-03693

Drag seines were used in river mouths where salmon gathered before heading upstream to spawn. First Nations fishermen used two canoes, but later, rowboats called skiffs were used. The two boats would each carry a piece of the net and make a circle with it. Paddling or rowing the boats to the same place closed the net circle trapping the fish. The nets were then hauled up into the boats, catch and all.

Purse Seining

Fishermen hauling seine nets.
© BC Archives Image #D-08385

Purse seining is the predominant seining method used today. It works on the same principle of encircling a school of fish with a long length of net held afloat by a corkline or buoys on the top. The difference is that the lead line on the bottom is pulled up under the water, closing the hole in the bottom of the circle so that the fish are enclosed in a small purse-like pocket of net. Purse seining requires the use of two boats. Early purse seining boats were small wooden boats that were oar or sail powered, and needed many fishermen on board to haul the nets in. Later, a small powerboat that towed a skiff was used. The skiff's job was to guide and watch the net while the seine boat pulled it in. There are many dangers and considerations involved when setting a net. Wind and currents have to be taken into account to avoid having the net become entangled in the propeller.

Seine Boat #3. © Campbell River Museum Archives Image #10756.

After the 1920s, important labour saving changes to the machinery of seine boats was introduced. Gas engines and vessel size were increased, and shortly there after diesel engines became available. Moreover, power rollers and winches, which allowed the use of longer nets and more sets per day, became standard equipment on seine boats. During the 1950s, the Power Block (or Pureric Block) and the power driven seine drum were introduced. Both of these mechanized units made crew work less back breaking as seine nets were power wound onto the boat instead of being wound in by hand. Later, hydraulic blocks and drums replaced both the mechanical power blocks and drums. All of these changes made the seine boats more mechanized and reduced the number of crew needed to run them from up to 16 men, to as few as 4 men.

Fishermen removing the days catch from their seine nets.
© BC Archives Image #I-29329

(See thumbnail images below for examples of modern seining boats and gear.)

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The pictures above are examples of contemporary seine fishing boats. If you click on one of them, it will link you to a larger image. You can use your back button to bring you back to this page.