fisheries: Commercial Fishing Methods

The commercial methods chiefly used—each with a great variety of modifications—employ encircling nets (purse seine, haul seine, trawl seine), entangling nets (gill and trammel), lines, and traps (for lobster and crab). Trawlers and purse boats take most commercial catches. After World War II, Japan and Russia (formerly the Soviet Union) began operating factory ships that freeze or can fish shortly after they are caught; such innovations allowed fishing fleets to move from offshore areas to the open ocean and distant waters, and ships with these capabilities are now used by most nations with distant-water fishing fleets. The drying, canning, salting, and preserving of fish comprise a vast industry with, in addition, the manufacture of numerous byproducts, including glue, fertilizer, and in Asia, fish sauces.

Sections in this article:

• Introduction
• History of Fisheries Regulation
• Control of Fishing Rights
• Commercial Fishing Methods
• Bibliography

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