Alaskan Purse Seine Boats
Limit Seiners are the Workhorses of Commercial Fishing in Alaska
Mar 9, 2009
Alaskan purse seine boats (seiners) are designed to catch large schools of fish, primarily Pink salmon and Pacific herring. Alaska law limits these vessels to an overall length of 58 feet. As technology and capacity demands have changed, the boats have grown both taller in height and wider in their beam.
Alaska Seine Boat Vessel Description
Alaska seine boats are alternatively known as seiners or limit seiners because of the limited length. Since a seiner needs room to stack and work its net, these vessels can be identified by their long, clean back decks that have a large winch boom perched above the deck. Seiners in transit to the fishing grounds or harbor are often seen carrying their power skiff piggyback on the back deck.
Many seiners are as well fitted as a recreational yacht and kept as clean. A new limit seiner represents a million dollar investment for its owner.
Seine Boat Fishing Operations
Seine boat operators scan the water’s surface for fish activity. Salmon often jump into the air and swim or fin near the surface. Fish can also be found with onboard sonar equipment. Once a school of fish is spotted, the seiner moves in to net them. Each attempt to encircle the fish is called a set. A single set can net 250 to 1,500 fish a one time.
Seining is a crew effort, taking a number people to work the net, operate the power skiff and master the seine boat. Typically these vessels carry a crew of four to five people. Crewing a seiner is often times a family affair. Many students have paid their way through college working on a seiner in Alaska during the summer.
Purse seines are long nets that are equipped with floats to keep the top of the net at the surface of the water. They carry a weighted line (lead line) at their base to hold the net down in the water column. A series of metal rings are attached to the lead line that a purse line passes through. Seiners depend on an auxiliary vessel called a power skiff to help place the seine net.
The long seine net is stacked on the rear deck of the vessel and feed into the water as the seiner encircles a school of fish. The power skiff helps hold the net in position as the net is put into use. Once the net surrounds a targeted school of fish, the purse line is drawn up capturing the fish in the resulting purse that is formed. The bag of fish is positioned alongside the seiner as it is pulled in with a large boom mounted hydraulic winch called a power block.
The seine boat’s crew dips salmon from the bag into the vessel hold. During herring fisheries, a larger fish tender will often pull alongside the seiner and pump the herring into its hold. Fish caught by a seiner are sold unprocessed in the round. Buyers normally pick up the fish on the grounds with large tender boats.
Watching seiners at work on the waters of Alaska is special experience for visitors to the state. The vessels like other types of commercial boats contribute to one of the primary cornerstones of Alaska's economy, commercial fishing.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
