commercial fishing

Table of Contents

Introduction
History of commercial fishing
Fishery equipment and facilities
- Gear
  - Hand tools
  - Lines
  - Traps
  - Nets
    - Bag nets
    - Dragged nets
    - Seines
    - Drive-in and lift nets
    - Gill and entangling nets
  - Machines
- Vessels
  - Trawlers
    - Side trawlers
    - Stern trawlers
    - Beam or outrigger trawlers
    - Wet-fish trawlers
    - Freezer trawlers
    - Factory or processing trawlers
  - Seiners
    - Purse seiners
    - Seine-netters
  - Dredgers
  - Lift-netters
  - Gill-netters
  - Potters
  - Liners
    - Handliners
    - Longliners
    - Pole-and-line vessels
    - Trollers
  - Multipurpose fishing boats
  - Artisanal fishing boats
  - Mother ships
  - Support and ancillary vessels
  - Freshwater fishing boats
- Harbours and port markets
Types of fishery
- Salt water
  - The oceans
  - Objects of sea fishery
    - Fishes
    - Shellfish
    - Mammals
    - Seaweeds and plankton
  - Fish finding
  - Sea-fishing methods
    - Pole-and-line fishing
    - Drifting longlines
    - Bottom longlines
    - Traps
    - Dragged gear
    - Seine nets
    - Purse seines and lamparas
    - Lift nets
    - Gill nets and drift nets
    - Entangling nets
    - Harvesting machines
- Fresh water
  - General characteristics
  - Methods

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fishing industry summary

commercial fishing

Also known as: fishing industry

Written by Philip F. Purrington, Dag Pike•All

Fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last Updated: Dec 23, 2024 • Article History

Related Topics:: aquaculture; bycatch; hunting; fishing

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commercial fishing, the taking of fish and other seafood and resources from oceans, rivers, and lakes for the purpose of marketing them. In the early 21st century about 250 million people were directly employed by the commercial fishing industry, and an estimated one billion people depended on fish as their primary source of animal protein. Fishing is one of the oldest employments of humankind. Ancient heaps of discarded mollusk shells, some from prehistoric times, have been found in coastal areas throughout the world, including those of China, Japan, Peru, Brazil, Portugal, and Denmark. These mounds, known as kitchen middens (from ...(100 of 14349 words)

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