Beach Seine

A beach seine is a surrounding net set from shore in a curve and then hauled back onto a beach by two warps, trapping coastal and estuarine fish in the shrinking arc. It is one of the oldest and most widespread small-scale gears, worked by hand or with a capstan, targeting mullet, sardines, and juvenile reef fish. Because the central bunt often uses small mesh and the gear sweeps shallow nursery habitat, beach seines take large numbers of juveniles and non-target species, so many jurisdictions restrict mesh size, seasons, or ban the gear outright in sensitive coastal zones.