Drift netting is a fishing technique where nets, called drift nets, hang vertically in the water column without being anchored to the bottom. The nets are kept vertical in the water by floats attached to a rope along the top of the net and weights attached to another rope along the bottom of the net.[1] Drift nets generally rely on the entanglement properties of loosely affixed netting. Folds of loose netting, much like a window drapery, snag on a fish's tail and fins and wrap the fish up in loose netting as it struggles to escape. However, the nets can also function as gill nets if fish are captured when their gills get stuck in the net. The size of the mesh varies depending on the fish being targeted. These nets usually target schools of pelagic fish.
Traditionally drift nets were made of organic materials, such as hemp, which were biodegradable. Prior to 1950, nets tended to have a larger mesh size.[2] The larger mesh only caught the larger fish, allowing the smaller, younger ones to slip through. When drift net fishing grew in scale during the 1950s, the industry changed to synthetic materials with smaller mesh size.[1] Synthetic nets last longer, are odourless and may be nearly invisible in the water, and do not biodegrade.[2] Most countries regulate drift net fisheries within their territories. Such fisheries are also often regulated by international agreements.
Drift net fishing became a commercial fishing practice because it is cost effective. Nets can be placed by low-powered vessels making it fuel efficient. Drift nets are also effective at bringing in large amounts of fish in one catch.[1]
Prior to the 1960s net size was not limited, and commercially produced nets were commonly as long as 50 kilometres (31 mi).[3] In 1987 the U.S. enacted the Driftnet Impact, Monitoring, Assessment and Control Act limiting the length of nets used in American waters to 1.5 nautical miles (1.7 mi; 2.8 km). In 1989 the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) placed a moratorium on the practice of drift net fishing.[4] In 1992 the UN banned the use of drift nets longer than 2.5 km long in international waters.[5]
^ abcCaddell, R., "Caught in the net: driftnet fishing restrictions and the european court of justice", "Journal of Environmental Law", 2010
^ abPotter, E.C.E., and Pawson, "Gillnetting (Laboratory Leaflet Number 69)", "Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food, Directorate of Fisheries Research", 1991
^Animal Welfare Institute, "Driftnet Fishing", 2014
^Michaels, P.A., "Cooperative efforts dealing with driftnet fishing" Archived 2008-05-09 at the Wayback Machine, 2006
^Miller, G. Tyler (2004). Living in the Environment. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole. p. 302. ISBN 0-534-27411-0.
Driftnetting is a fishing technique where nets, called drift nets, hang vertically in the water column without being anchored to the bottom. The nets...
getting caught by fishing vessels using, namely, seine fishing, driftnetting, or gill netting operations. The following is a list of currently existing (or...
Dardis – who is a keen angler, – replied that the party had opposed drift-netting since 1999. The governmented then established an Independent Salmon...
Gillnetting is a fishing method that uses gillnets: vertical panels of netting that hang from a line with regularly spaced floaters that hold the line...
trapped in the ridge pool near the mouth of the river during the summer. Driftnetting for salmon was banned in November 2006 and the ban came into force on...
ghost nets and in removing ghost nets and other plastic pollution. Driftnetting Monofilament fishing line#Environmental impact The Derelict Crab Trap...
water pollution from the discharge of sewage and industrial effluents. Driftnetting is another issue. South Korea is a party to: Antarctic-Environmental...
Estuary at Kilrush the Currach was used to catch herring as well as driftnetting for salmon. Dublin City Council published a plan in 2011 to supply up...
driftnets exceeding the EU size limit of 2.5 km/boat. This illegal drift-netting is a major issue, especially in important feeding and breeding grounds...
suspects, immediately halted the practice. Sea Shepherd in 2006 noted that driftnetting had again gained prominence, due to the reduction of fish stocks tempting...
harms to wild cetaceans include commercial whaling, aboriginal whaling, driftnetting, ship collisions, water pollution, noise from sonar and reflection seismology...
shark attacks on swimmers. Shark nets used are gillnets which is a wall of netting that hangs in the water and captures the marine animals by entanglement...
vessels, which had been rampant prior to Earthtrust's entry. CITES Driftnetting Greenpeace Sea Shepherd Conservation Society Species Survival Network...
DAPG has also campaigned against high seas pelagic drift-netting which kills cetacean caught in the drift nets, and succeeded in phasing out this fishing...
Ironbridge coracle, the Shrewsbury coracle and the Welshpool coracle. Driftnetting and seine fishing also took place on the lower, wider stretches of these...
OPB with the series premier in 1990, which began with the impact of driftnetting for tuna on dolphins. Using the information from this story, Amen also...
of fishing — shore operated lift nets. Drift net – Driftnetting is a fishing technique where nets, called drift nets, are allowed to float freely at the...
sun-dried haddock and whiting, a popular delicacy throughout Britain. As driftnetting developed during the mid 19th century, the fishing began to decline...
Recreational boat tax repeal Automated tariff filing and information system Driftnetting Federal Maritime Commission Gillnetting National Marine Fisheries Service...
Jay Hernandez. The Bold and the Beautiful - Girl #1 (1994) (TV series) Drifting School - Caroline (1995) (film) Hang Time - Julie Connor (1995–2000) (TV...
first met, and fished with, Bob Satiacum, another Native American. Driftnetting for salmon in Tacoma's Commencement Bay and the rivers that fed into...
wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques include hand-gathering, spearing, netting, angling, shooting and trapping, as well as more destructive and often...
netting designed to slow the motion of snow and prevent avalanches Snow fence, a fencing designed to cause snow drifts down wind, so the snow drifts don't...
usually constructed from posts that are connected by boards, wire, rails or netting. A fence differs from a wall in not having a solid foundation along its...
the 2009–10 season with the club's reserve team in Segunda División B, netting once in 26 games and suffering relegation. While still registered with...
hundreds and are composed of plant material, in majority seagrass rhizome netting torn out by water movement.[citation needed] In recent years they have...