Gillnet

A gillnet is a type of fishing net, a type of which is the driftnet (which is a drifting gillnet – i.e. it is cast into the sea without being anchored to anything). The net is designed so that the fish being targeted are able to get their head into the gap between the strands, but not their body. When the fish enters and then tries to get out, the net snags the gill covers or operculum, causing the fish to become trapped. Normally, the net does allow smaller fish to pass through unharmed as a result of mesh size. However, as more fish are caught by the net, smaller fish are as well, unable to pass through the initial layers of larger fish. These nets also pose a danger to many marine mammals.

This type of net was heavily used by many Japanese, South Korean, and Taiwanese fishing fleets in the 1980's. Because of their indiscriminate nature, catching near everything in their path, as well as a growing concern for the plight of whales and dolphins, gillnets were banned by the United Nations in 1993.

External Links

• Manual on estimation of selectivity for gillnet and longline gears in abundance surveys – report for Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, 2000.
• Gillnet Fishing – from Canada's Digital Collections.
• Kurlansky, Mark. Cod: A biography of the fish that changed the world. Walker and Company, New York 1997.