May 25, 2021 — Fisherman Rob Bichrest of Cundy’s Harbor bent over a huge, black net at the Portland Fish Pier on Monday morning. Using a pair of orange-handled scissors, Bichrest then began cutting the $20,000 piece of fishing gear in half.
He had to.
Under current Atlantic menhaden fishing regulations, the 870-foot-long purse seine net was too large. It had to be reduced from 120 feet high, to just 48 feet.
“I can’t use one that big,” said fisherman, Sonny Rich, who owns the net. “It’s not legal anymore.”
A purse seine is a floating and weighted net, set around a school of fish. The net is closed around the fish using a drawstring threaded through rings attached to the weighted part of the net at the bottom.
Atlantic menhaden are usually called “pogies” and used as lobster bait in Maine. Further south, in Virginia, they are rendered into oil and sold as omega-3 fish oil supplements.