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EveryFish

Gillnet

A wall of fine net that fish swim into and are caught by the gills; the mesh size decides the size of fish caught.

Also: drift net, set net

A gillnet hangs in the water from floats with weights below. Fish of the right size push their heads through the mesh and are caught behind the gills when they try to back out. Gillnets can be anchored, set across rivers or left to drift. They are cheap and selective by size, so they are the main gear of many small-scale fisheries, including the hilsa fisheries of the Padma and Hooghly. They also catch dolphins, turtles and sharks. Very long high-seas drift nets were banned by a United Nations resolution from 1992.

See also

Small-scale fishing Bycatch Ghost nets

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