| Seine Net Fishing in St. Thomas |
One of the problems facing Virgin Islands fishermen is that the Feds just don’t
understand the scale of the local fishing industry. There are no 50 foot trawlers, no
big purse seiners with ultra-light aircraft spotting the fish, just small boats with
hard working fishermen fishing pretty much in the way that their fathers and
grandfathers have always fished.
Seine net fishing came to St. Thomas with the "Frenchie" migration from St.
Barth's around 1850. Seine net fishermen follow schools of yellowtail snapper,
hardnose (blue runners) and carang (bar jacks) in small (under 18 ft) boats until the
understand their feeding patterns. Then they surround the school in small coves
around the shoreline, dive the net into a purse and empty the fish into the boats
along with the net and the other fishermen.
The hardest fishery for the Feds to accept is the seine net fleet. Virgin Islands
seine net fishermen fish from small 16-18 foot boats filled with 600 fathoms of
nylon seine that generally reaches to around 40 feet in depth. Two to three (big)
fishermen are also in the boats which search the shorelines and cays for schools
of yellowtail, bonito, hardnose and gar. Most of the fishermen are of French
heritage and the role of fishermen is filled with the names found in Anne Marie
Danets, geneology of the local French community.
Seine net fishermen are a hardy bunch. Teddy and Chicken Chest, Patrick, Cheep
Cheep, Robbie, Ricky, Kevin, Warren, Jerry and the rest spend their days following
schools of fish until they figure out the perfect place and time to surround them
with the nets. After being surrounded, the fishermen free dive the nets into a “6”
containing the fish, purse the nets and fill their small boats. Sometimes the catch
is big enough that fish are left “crawled” and emptied in stages. One net catch
measured during STFA’s MRAG study was over 3,000 pounds. They may be
fishing from little boats but they can catch the hell out of the fish!
understand the scale of the local fishing industry. There are no 50 foot trawlers, no
big purse seiners with ultra-light aircraft spotting the fish, just small boats with
hard working fishermen fishing pretty much in the way that their fathers and
grandfathers have always fished.
Seine net fishing came to St. Thomas with the "Frenchie" migration from St.
Barth's around 1850. Seine net fishermen follow schools of yellowtail snapper,
hardnose (blue runners) and carang (bar jacks) in small (under 18 ft) boats until the
understand their feeding patterns. Then they surround the school in small coves
around the shoreline, dive the net into a purse and empty the fish into the boats
along with the net and the other fishermen.
The hardest fishery for the Feds to accept is the seine net fleet. Virgin Islands
seine net fishermen fish from small 16-18 foot boats filled with 600 fathoms of
nylon seine that generally reaches to around 40 feet in depth. Two to three (big)
fishermen are also in the boats which search the shorelines and cays for schools
of yellowtail, bonito, hardnose and gar. Most of the fishermen are of French
heritage and the role of fishermen is filled with the names found in Anne Marie
Danets, geneology of the local French community.
Seine net fishermen are a hardy bunch. Teddy and Chicken Chest, Patrick, Cheep
Cheep, Robbie, Ricky, Kevin, Warren, Jerry and the rest spend their days following
schools of fish until they figure out the perfect place and time to surround them
with the nets. After being surrounded, the fishermen free dive the nets into a “6”
containing the fish, purse the nets and fill their small boats. Sometimes the catch
is big enough that fish are left “crawled” and emptied in stages. One net catch
measured during STFA’s MRAG study was over 3,000 pounds. They may be
fishing from little boats but they can catch the hell out of the fish!