Why is there a little boat following that fishing boat? This is a question I have heard from several people this summer. There are myriad types of vessels doing all types of activities on the water – and it isn’t always clear what they are doing. I have written a bit previously about different types of boats including those like lobster boats that are more familiar, and also those that might be less familiar.
In this case, that small boat, known as a tender boat, follows behind to help the larger boat to set and haul up a net. This reminds me of Margaret Wise Brown’s picture book, “The Little Fisherman,” where the little fisherman goes out fishing and hauls his net in and the big fisherman goes out and hauls his net in. In this case, the little fisherman in his little boat sets his own net and the big fisherman in his big boat sets his own net.
In the case of certain types of fishing boats, however, the two boats work together. It takes two boats, both a little one and a big one, to set and haul up nets. This is true of boats that use what is known as a purse seine. A seine is just another name for a net that hangs down into the water. It usually has weights at the bottom and floats at the top to help hold it open. The mesh size on the net depends on the fish you are trying to catch. A purse seine, more specifically, operates like a purse. There are rings along the bottom of the net with a line passing through them. When you pull the line, it closes up the net and all the fish that are in it. The larger boat typically has a reel of net on the back to store the net once it has been hauled in.
So what are they fishing for? Purse seiners go after a variety of schooling fish. Often, along the Maine coast in the summer, these pairs of boats are fishing for pogies. Pogies are an important type of baitfish in many fisheries including the lobster fishery. One of the reasons they are great for bait is that they are quite oily. For this reason, they are also used to produce fish oil. That also means that they can leave a tell-tale oily slick on the surface of the water.
In fact, one of the most amazing things about pogies is that they are often at the surface of the water. They swim in dense schools with their mouths wide open to filter out plankton. They follow the tides into coves and back out as they feed, often flipping and flapping on the surface as they move. This is an amazing sight to see, and also to hear.
Even though they come to the surface, it is still hard to get a close look at them. If you could, you would see that these fish, members of the herring family, are silvery with a characteristic black spot on their sides and a few smaller spots behind it. They have relatively flat bodies that rarely get bigger than 15 inches in length and a deeply forked tail. You might also see a striper break into the school from beneath, trying to catch his dinner. Or, sometimes even a seal.
Purse seiners are just one type of fishing boat (or boats) commonly seen in the Gulf of Maine. But they are neat to watch as they work the nets and haul up the flapping silvery catch that is an often-overlooked part of the local coastal ecosystem.
Comments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
