Making a Seine Net
ASEINE NET is just a long fishing net used for dipping into the ocean to collect and study marine life.
WHAT YOU NEED
♦ Seine netting, often sold as minnow seine. Ours is 4 feet deep and 15 feet long, with a 1/8/1/8 inch mesh, but these measurements are flexible, depending on how big or small you want your net to be, and what’s available. It’s nice when the net has a bit of Styrofoam at the top edge to keep it afloat, and some metal weights on the bottom to help it sink. Some seine netting comes this way. It can be bought at marina shops.
♦ Two 4-foot poles or lengths of wood, to control the net, and to wind it up when you’re done.
♦ A large bucket, to keep your catch in water and to store the net.
Attach the shorter sides of the net to the poles. Do this by drilling a hole at each end of the pole (they might do this for you at a marine shop, if you ask). Or, use a Swiss Army knife to whittle a channel at each end of the pole, and wrap the rope there. Or forget the whittling and just wrap the rope very tight. If there’s not already a thin rope at each corner of your net, find a small length of light rope or twine and use that.
One person stands at the shoreline and holds a pole. The other person holds the second pole and wades into the water until the net is fully extended. Keep the top at water level and let the rest of the net sink. This is where the metal weights come in handy.
After a time, walk back to shore in a sweeping motion, keeping the net fully extended so that when you get to shore, you’ll be a net-length away from your friend or parent holding the other end of the net. As you get closer to shore, slowly change the net direction from vertical—where it is catching fish and other creatures—to horizontal, where you can scoop them up and lay out the net on the wet sand to see what you’ve got.
If you’re not catching much of anything, change your position, or your location, or trawl some, walking around with the net stretched, giving more fish more time to end up in your hands. Both of you can walk farther into the river or surf.
Toss back everything within a few minutes so that your spider crabs, starfish, striped bass, tiny snails, and shiny minnows can continue their lives at sea. Many towns have laws that tell you to toss the sea animals back where they belong, or else you will suffer a stiff penalty. (Some beaches ban large-scale commercial seine netting, but these small ones are usually okay.)
If you’re going fishing, though, those little minnows are good bait.
HOW TO CLEAN A SHELL
When your beachcombing and seine netting land you choice shells, here are two ways to clean them and turn them into long lasting treasures.
- Bury the shells 12 inches underground in your backyard and let the earthworms and all those soil bacteria do their work. This can take several months.
- Boil for five minutes in a large pot, in a solution that is half water and half bleach. You’ll see when the shells are clean. Take them out carefully with tongs, or ask someone older to do it, because the water is scalding. Rinse with cool water.