Other fishing
Fishing methods covered for intelligence, history, culture, science and environmental context rather than as instruction. Handlining, netting, traps, trawling, purse seining and longlining catch most of the world's fish, and understanding how they work is part of understanding fishing.
Bowfishing
Taking fish with a bow and a tethered arrow — a small but distinct tradition, and one restricted or prohibited across most of Europe.Hand fishing
Catching fish directly by hand from beneath banks and in holes — a genuinely ancient practice, now illegal in most of Europe and legal in parts of the United States.Handlining
Fishing with a line held directly in the hand rather than on a rod — the oldest and still the most widespread fishing method in the world.Longlining
A very long mainline carrying thousands of baited hooks on short droppers — highly selective for its target, and the gear most associated with seabird and shark bycatch.Purse seining
Encircling a whole school with a wall of net and drawing the bottom closed like a purse — the principal method for catching pelagic shoaling fish.Traditional net fishing
Small-scale netting methods with long regional histories — cast nets, hand-hauled seines, dip nets and river netting — described here for what they are, not as instruction.Traps and pots
Passive gear that fish and shellfish enter and cannot leave — among the most ancient fishing technologies, and among the most selective still in use.Trawling
Towing a large net through the water or along the seabed — the dominant commercial fishing method by volume, and the most environmentally contested.
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