How Do Fishing Nets Work: A Deep Dive Into The Art Of Catching Fish

Nets are essential tools in the fishing industry, employed in various ways to capture fish. There are primarily two methods by which fish are caught using nets: gilled and wedged. In the gilled method, fish attempt to swim through the net’s meshes. If a fish is unable to pass through, it becomes ensnared as it endeavors to back out of the net, often getting caught behind its gill covers. In the wedged approach, the net tightly encircles the fish’s body through one or more meshes, firmly holding it in place. These techniques, involving gillnets and entanglement nets, illustrate how nets are strategically used to trap fish during fishing operations.

When fishing nets break down, they undergo a transformation that poses significant environmental challenges. Instead of disappearing, these abandoned nets and fishing lines fragment into smaller pieces of plastic, known as microplastics. This enduring presence of microplastics in the marine environment has detrimental consequences for marine life. Many marine animals mistake these tiny plastic fragments for food, ingesting them unintentionally. This ingestion can lead to a series of problems, including harm to their internal organs, reduced ability to feed properly, and exposure to toxic chemicals present in the microplastics. Consequently, addressing the issue of broken fishing nets and their transformation into microplastics is crucial for the protection of marine ecosystems and the creatures that inhabit them.