Bottom Seining in Canada

Danish and Scottish seining has been flourishing in northern and western European countries since the 1920s. In Canada,  Danish anchor seining was the first bottom seining method introduced by the St. Andrews Atlantic Biological Station (Fisheries Research Board of Canada) in New Brunswick in 1948. The commercial fishery started in the early 1950s in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence and expanded to the south coast of Newfoundland. As in Scotland in the 1920s, the traditional Danish anchor seine method was soon replaced by the Scottish fly dragging method. Thereafter in Canada, the titles Danish and Scottish seining became synonymous with the design of seine being used and not the method.

From the 1950s to the end of the 1980s, the Canadian Department of Fisheries spearheaded a program to introduce new and more efficient fishing methods as part of their goal to expand and modernized the local fishing industry.  Both bottom seining and pair seining were demonstrated to the fishing industry on both sides of the Canadian coast during the 1960s and 1970s. The initial focus was on expanding the fishing capabilities, dominated by fixed gear methods, such as potting, gillnetting and longlining, of the many low powered longliner boats in the 35-65 ft (10.7-19.8 m) class, which were ideally suited for converting to seining at little cost. Only in Atlantic Canada did this initiative prove successful and during the last 60 years it has become a viable fishing method in the inshore and nearshore regions.

Canada, like many of the world's big fishing nations has adopted an ecosystem approach to fisheries management. Bottom seining is the most eco-friendly of all of the mobile bottom gears and when compared to trawling it produces 1) better catch rates; 2) larger average size of fish caught; 3) lower bottom habitat impact; 4) better quality of fish landed; 5) less fuel consumption; 6) lower vessel engine maintenance due to less wear and tear and power needed to fish; and 7) less gear repairs due to less time on bottom. The only identifiable negative impacts of this gear are the bycatch of small fish and other unwanted species, both areas which can be minimized with the right combination of technical measures and enforcement. Should Canada introduce a “get tough” approach on reducing the ecosystem impacts of otter trawling then seining could prove to be the viable option.