Greenwich Bay

The purse seine is a long net that looks like a big curtain. To catch the menhaden, two or three boats, and often an airplane, all work together. First, the airplane locates a school of fish from overhead and tells the boats where the school is located. The net is set by one or two small boats, called the net handlers. They circle the net around the school of fish. The bottom of the net is then drawn in tight, like the strings on a bag (or an old-fashioned purse, which is how the net got its name). The net is pulled in to the larger boat, which is known as the mother vessel. The mother vessel carries the catch, which may be used for chicken feed, bait, fertilizer, or oil.

To learn more about menhaden, see Species Spotlight.