Time Team

The Salmon Netter's Story

"My family have been Salmon-netters and boat builders for generations. Both of these are skilled jobs.

When there are not so many salmon around, we can always be building boats so we can make a living and put bread on the table. Not everyone can do that these days.

I've had to stop now of course, because of the rheumatism, but I've plenty memories. Let me tell you about the netting first. It's hard, cold, work, often we come home soaked to the skin, and we've been on our feet all day! The idea is to catch the salmon as they return to their spawning rivers in the spring.

The River Tay right here, is one of the biggest rivers for salmon on the east coast. We can do the netting two ways, either using fixed nets - set up on poles dug deep into the sand, which we walk along at the ebb tide and haul out the fish. Otherwise, out in the estuary, we use sweep nets from the boat. We shoot the net over the stern and then row out from the shore in a half circle, back to the shore a bit further along. Back on shore we drag the net in and hope the fish are caught! Need to know your tides and the fish!

I prefer the netting - I really don't like being on the sea much. But I love walking along the sands - sun or rain never matters - feeling the wind on my face, and the space. The sky seems huge. Best of all is the noise of the thousands of birds calling all around - terns, plovers, curlew - just everywhere. What a place it is! What I could do without is all the seals - we could really do with getting rid of them - they take our fish you know!

Once we've got our load of salmon, we take it up to the ice house, not far away. It's so cold in there, keeps the fish fresh as daisies. So many being caught nowadays - this is a new idea for keeping them.

Now the boat building... but you're tired of listening to my stories, you can hear about that another day. You get going..."

Or

"Now the boat building, well that's a very different skill. There's tools for cutting wood of all types, into all kinds of shapes and sizes. We're only talking about cobles - that's our speciality, we use them, we know what's needed. You know them? Small, flat-bottomed, boats made from wood, clinker-style?

Takes one to row, and one to feed the net out. Used a lot of oak out of the local forests for the building. Helping to build a boat right now, I am, been getting difficult to find suitable trees though - I blame the local people. They clear the old trees for their farming and then don't stop their beasts eating the young trees. Something will have to be done soon or we won't have the wood to build boats any more!"

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