Fishing on the Sea of Galilee --
Using a Seine

fishing2.jpg (32875 bytes)

The seine is the oldest type of net, and was once the most important fishing method on the Sea of Galilee. The netting is shaped like a long wall, 250 to 300 meters long, three to four meters high at its "wings" and eight meters high at the center. 

The foot-rope is weighted with sinkers, and the head-rope has cork floats.   The net is spread a hundred meters or more from the shore and parallel to it, and hauled toward the shore with towing lines consisting of sections of ropes tied together.   These are attached to each end, and hauled by a team of 16 men for large nets, or a smaller team for smaller nets.

In the early mornings the crews arrange the heavy net on the "table" of the stern of the boat and sail off to a selected fishing area.   The boat touches shore and half the crew jump out and take the first rope.   The boat sails out with the trailing line until it reaches the end of the line.   Then the boat turns and sails parallel to the shore until the net is "spread."  The boat then turns back to the shore trailing the second set of ropes.  On reaching the shore, the remaining half of the crew alights and takes the end of the other towing line.

The whole team now harness themselves to the ropes and pull the net to the shore.  The sinkers have dragged the net to the bottom, the floats have lifted the head-rope, and the net now forms a rectangular wall that advances to the shore with its lower edge at the bottom of the lake.  The two groups of fishermen climb from the water up the beach, moving also toward each other.

As the net comes near the shore, the skipper takes the boat and when necessary dives from it to lift the foot-rope over possible obstacles such as stones protruding from the bottom.  With the ropes slung across their shoulders or around their hips, the fishermen make their way up the beach.  The one who is farthest up the shore goes back to the water, takes up his harness again, and joins those in the line.   This continues until all the ropes are out of the water.

This entire operation takes more than an hour and is often repeated as many as eight times during a day's fishing.

Information from "The Sea of Galilee and its Fishermen in the New Testament," by Mendel Nun, Kibbutz Ein Gev, Israel