CA1256288A - Fishing weir - Google Patents

Abstract

ABSTRACT OF THE INVENTION

A fishing weir for use in the ocean comprises tubular support means forming at least a major portion of the perimeter of the weir. The tubular support means is adapted to float on the surface of the ocean and to support the fishing weir. Fish netting is attached to the tubular support means to form the walls of the weir. An inlet chute is formed in the walls of the weir. The walls of the chute are attached to the walls of the weir. The chute extends into the weir and is adapted for the passage of fish into the weir. Weights are attached to the fish netting.

Description

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FISHING WEIR

sACKGxO~ND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a fishing weir and especially to a floating fishing weir that is capable of being moved from one location to another location.
Fishing weirs have been used for a long time in the catching of fish. For instance, fishing weirs have been used for over one llundred years in north-eastern North America e.g. on Grand Manan Island in the Bay of Fundy, for the netting oE fish, especially herringO Fishing weirs used in the netting of herring are usually cardioid in shape and are permanently located near the shoreD The weir is formed by driving long wooden stakes into the ocean floor in the cardioid shape, leaving a gap at the junction of the lobes of the cardioid, together with 20 a series of stakes running from the gap to the shore. The latter series oE stakes is known as a leader or fence. Frequently, about one hundred stakes are used to construct the weir. The weir is - located in the ocean in 10-15 metres of water, at low 25 tide, and thus the stakes must be 20-25 metres in length. Poles are attached to the top of the stakes so that the tops of the poles extend above water at high tide, which at locations like Grand Manan Island is in excess of 7 metres. Netting is attached to the 30 stakes and poles, thereby forming a weir in the cardioid shape with a fence extending to the shore, the net extending from the surface of the ocean to near to the ocean floor. Fishing weirs used in the ocean tend to have a large diameter e.g. 30-40 metres from the mouth of the weir to the opposing side of the weir.
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Although herring are regarded as a pelagic fish, they are also known to swim in schools close to ahore during some seasons of the year and at certain times or under some weather conditions. As the ~chool of herring swims along the shore, it encounters the fence of the fishing weir and is diverted along the fence, through the gap and into the cardioid section of the weir. The shape of the weir is such that the school of herring is always diverted away from the gap and thus the school lQ remains trapped in the weir. The fishermen may then remove the herring from the weir, usually using a seining operation.
Fishing weirs have given acceptable results 15 for a long period of time with relatively few changes in construction, although the nets and ropes now used in the weir tend to be made of nylon or polypropylene rather than the more traditional materials. However, there are disadvantages to the known weirs. For 20 instance, it is necessary to have an adequate supply of stakes e.g. rock maple or red pine, depending on the depth of the weir, that are both straight and of reasonable cost. Such stakes have to be driven into the ocean floor, which may be rocky and not receptive 25 to stakes or may be muddy or silty and unable to support the stakes in an upright position. Moreover, wooden stakes are susceptible to marine pests and borers and have a life expectancy of only a few years. Fishing weirs in oceans are susceptible to 30 the effects of ocean storms, tides, ice and the like, depending on the location of the weir. Furthermore, the weirs are intended to be permanently located, both because of the nature of the construction of the ; weirs and because it is necessary to construct the weirs as strongly as possible so as to withstand the 35 effects of the ocean, especially storms.

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SUMMARY OF THE I~VENTION

A movable fishing weir that is not constructed using wooden stakes or poles has now been found.
Accordinglyl the pre;ent invention provides a fishing weir for use in the ocean, said fishing weir comprising:
tubular support means forming at least a major portion of the perimeter of the weir, said tubular support being adapted to float on the surface of the ocean and to support the fishing weir;
fish netting attached to said tubular support means to form the walls oE the weir, an inlet chute ~ormed in the walls of the weir, the walls of the chute being attached to the walls of the weir, said chute e~tending into the weir and being adapted for the passage of fish into the weir; and weights attached to said fish netting.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the tubular support means is formed from a synthetic polymer, especially polyethylene and in particular polyethylene in the form of pipe.
In a further embodiment, a bull ring is located within the weir in the plane of the tubular support means Eorming the perimeter of the weir and a plurality of guide wires are attached to both the bull ring and the tubular support means.
In another embodiment, the shape of the weir as defined by the walls of the weir, includin~ the walls o~ the inlet chutel is substantially cardioid.

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The present inventi~n will be further described with re~erence to the embodiments shown in the drawings, in which:
Figure la is a schematic rep~esentation of a plan view of a fish weir of the prior art;
Figure lb is a scheTnatic representation of the fish weir o~ Figure la as viewed in direction A-A;
Figure 2 is a schematic representation of a perspective view of an embodiment of the fishing weir of the present invention;
Figures 3a/ 3b and 3c are schematic representations of plan views of alternative embodiments of the present invention;
Figures 4a and 4b are schematic top and perspective views of additional alternative embodiments of the invention;
Figure 5 is a schematic perspective view of a further embodiment of the invention;
Figure 6 is a schematic perspective view of a still further embodiment of the invention.
Figure 7 is a view of an alternative embodiment of a fishing weir;
Figure 8 is a cross-sectional view of a 25 coupling for use in the embodiments of Figures 3a, 3b and 3c and appears in the drawings after Figure 3c;
Figure 9 is a perspective view from above and to the left of another coupling to be used in the embodiments of Figures 3a, 3b, and 3c; and Figures lOa and lOb are perspective and cross-sectional views respectively of still another coupling to be used in the embodiments of Figures 3a, 3b and 3c.

Referring to Figure la, the fish weir, generally indicated by 1, is comprised of a cardioid--.
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shaped enclosure 2 and a fence 3 that extends from the enclosure 2 to the shore; the fence extends past the low-tide level 4 of the shore to a location at or near the shoreline 5. Although not shown, fence 3 is comprised of a series of stakes driven into the ocean floor between which is strung a fish net; the fish net extends essentially from the ocean surface to the ocean floor. Enclosure 2 is also formed from stakes and netting, and is further described with reference to Figure lb. Fence 3 extends into the notch 6 formed between the lobes of cardioid-shaped enclosure 2, with an inlet 7 being provided into enclosure 2.
In Figure lb, the enclosure 2 is shown to be formed by stakes 10 that are driven into the ocean 15 floor 11 to an extent that will provide support for the entire fish weir even during ocean storms.
- Stakes 10 extend from the ocean floor 11 to above the level of the ocean at low tide, represented by 12.
Poles 13 are attached to the top of stakes 10 such 20 that the tops of poles 13 extend above the level of the ocean at high tide, represented by 14. In some areas of the world where fish weirs are used e.g. the Bay of Fundy, the tidal variation may exceed 7 metres~ A typical weir has about 100 stakes, which 25 are spaced about 2.5 metres apart~ The weir is tied together with a ribband, which may be in the form of poles lashed to the stakes 10 but is more frequently a rope, especially a polypropylene rope. Lower fish netting 16 is tied on the inside of stakes 10 and 30 upper fish netting 17 is tied on the outside of poles 13, in order to retain fish, especially herring, inside the fish weir. In Figure lb, the direction of the outgoing tide is shown by 18.
In operation, a school of fish swims along the shoreline and is diverted by fence 3 so that the .. , .

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school swims into enclosure 2. Once inside e~closure 2, the school tends to swim around inside t~e enclosure, as a result of the cardioid shape of the enclosure, and to remain there until remove~ by fishermen.
Referring to Figure 2, fish weir 2~ is comprised of tubular flotation support means in the form of pipe 21, wall netting 22, floor netting 23, fence netting 24 and inlet chute 25. Pipe 21 forms 10 the perimeter of fishing weir 20 and is ada?t2d to float on the surface of the ocean and support fishing weir 20. Pipe 21 may be in the form of continuous tubing but is preferably in the form of sections of pipe thermally butt-fused together and having 15 internal bulkheads, so as to form a continuou~
sectioned pipe. Such a sectioned pipe offers advantages with respect to support of the fishing weir in the event of damage to a portion of the pipe.
In a preferred embodiment, pipe 21 i~ formed 20 from a thermoplastic polymer e.g. polyamide or polyolefin, especially polyethylene. The pre~erred polyethylene is high density polyethylene. The polymer should contain pigments and/or stabil.zers, especially carbon black, to protect the pol~mer from 25 the effects of, in particular, ultra violet radiation.
Large diameter polyethylene pipe is commercially available e.g. in diameters of up to about 160 cm. In embodiments, the polyethy1el~e pipe 30 is pipe conforming to the requirements of D~ 32.5 to DR 21 of ASTM F-714, pipe meeting the require~ents of DR 21 having greater wall thicknesses; under the alternate standards of CSGB-4-GP-25m of the Canadian Standards Government Board, the pipe may be p~pe that 35 conforms to Series 45 to 100. In a preferr~d embodiment, Series 80 polyethylene pipe available ' . ' ' ~ ' ' -:
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commercially under the trademark SCLAIRPIP~, which has a diameter of about 50 cm, is used to ~orm pipe 21. Such polyethylene pipe may be thermally butt-Eused, with bulkheads, by techniques known in the art.
Pipe 21 may form the entire perimeter of the fishing weir, as is shown in Figure 2, which is the preferred embodiment of the invention, but in alternative embodiments pipe 21 may form only a major portion of the perimeter. In that event, it may be necessary to provide other means to prevent fish from escaping from the weir throuS~h those portions of the perimeter that do not have pipe 210 Pipe 21 may be formed from sections of pipe 15 having at least one internal bulkhead fused into the pipe. The sections of pipe are then butt-fused to form the perimeter of the fishing weir. For example, sections of pipe having lengths of about 15-20 cm.
may conveniently be so butt-fused.
Wall netting 22 is attached to and suspended from pipe 21. Floor netting 23 is attached to wall netting 22, or is part of continuous netting that forms both the wall netting 22 and floor netting 23.
Wall netting 22 has a plurality of spaced apart ropes 25 26 that are attached at one end to pipe 21 and are, preferably, threaded through wall netting 22 and extend beyond the bottom thereof at which location ropes 26 are attached to weights 27. Weigh-ts 27 tend to reduce movement of wall netting 22 with the ocean 30 tide. Similarly, a plurality of floor ropes 28 extend across the floor of the weir, preferably threaded through floor netting 23, to provide stability to the floor of the weir.
Chute 25 passes through wall netting 22.
Chute 25 is formed by chute walls 29, which are made of fish netting, and by floor netting 23. In an , . . :
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alternative embodiment, chute 25 has chute floor 30 ~ormed of net~ing which may be in acldition to or in place of floor netting 23 at the location of the chute 25.
Fence 24 extends away from the location of pipe 21, usually to a shore ~not shown) e.g. to a position above the low tide level at the shore and in particular to a position at or near the high tide level at the shore. Fence 24 is comprised of a 10 plurality of floats 36 that are connected together by means oE a rope or other suitable means, the number of such floats being sufficient to support fence 24.
While a variety of floats may be used, the preferred floats are formed from sections of polyethylene pipe 15 having bulkheads butt-fused thereon so as to ~orm the float. Fence netting 37 is attached to floats 36 and extends from the floats, at the surface of the ocean, to a location near the bottom of the ocean. As shown in Figure 2, a leaded skirt 38 may be attached to the 20 bottom of fence netting 37, to hold fence netting 37 in a substantially vertical position. Alternatively, in an embodiment that is not shown, fence 24 may be constructed with polyethylene pipe, netting and weights in a manner similar to that described above 25 with respect to the remainder of the fishing weir.
Fence 24 is attached to pipe 21 near chute 25. Fence 24 may be attached to one of chute walls 29.
However, it is preferred that fence 24 be attached to neither of chute walls 29, but rather that fence 24 30 extend partially into chute 25, so that a school of fish may pass along either side of the fence and still enter chute 25 and into the fishing weir.
The fishing weir is moored at a particular location in the ocean by means that are not shown in 35 Figure 2. A plurality of mooring ropes, suitably situated around the fishing weir, are used to locate ' '~ . , ' :

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~L~5~ 8 g the fishing weir in a parti ular location. One end of each mooring line is att~hed to the tubular support means, or other suitable location, and the other end is anchored to tha ocean floor, especially to anchor means located on :he ocean ~loor. The mooring ropes are attached to the tubular support means in a manner that read ly permits disconnection e.g. to facilitate relocation of the weir in the event of an approaching sto~m.
In an embodiment, a ring, known as a bull ring, is centrally located ~ithin the plane formed ~y the tubular support means, 2nd essentially at the surface of the ocean. In t~e embodiment shown in Figure 2, the bull ring is located under scow 31, and 15 is not shown. The bull ring is preferably fabricated from steel and treated to reduce or prevent corrosion. Guide wires 32 ~ass from the bull ring to the flotation support means. The guide wires 32 are ~ intended to maintain the shape of the perimeter of - 20 the fishing weir. As will ~e appreciated, there is significant tension in the pipe forming the perimeter and there is a strong tendency for the pipe 21 to spring back to a substantially linear shape. Guide wires 32 resist that tendensy to the extent that in 25 the event of severing of pi~e 21, guide wires 21 will maintain pipe 21 in its pre-ruptured configuration.
As shown in Figure 2, scow 31 is located in a central location within t~e fishing weir and is on the surface of the ocean, although scow 31 may be 30 located at any convenient location within the perimeter formed by pipe 21; in particular scow 31 may be located above inlet ehute 25, at the centre and above the bull ring or towards the side of the weir opposite inlet chute 25. Scow 31 may be held in place by means of guide wires, but preferably scow 31 is attached to flotation deYices and merely anchored .
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^~5~2i38 by means of guide wires. As shown in the embodiment o~ Figure 2, each of chute walls 29 extends from, and is attached to, pipe 21 to scow 31. The ends of chute walls 29 located under scow 31 are attached to both scow 31 and to floor netting 23 so as to maintain such ends in a substantially vertical position.
Scow 31 may be used by the fishermen as, for instance, a dock. However, the principal function of the scow is forming a base for location of winch 34.
~inch 34 has wound thereon winch wire 35 which extends from winch 34 along fence 24. In particular, winch wire 35 extends along the upper portion of fence 34 to the outermost end of fence 24 (not 15 shown); winch wire 35 is attached to at least the outermost end of fence 24. Winch 34 may be used to wind up fence 24, especially in the event that the fishing weir is to be ~,oved to another location or the danger of storms or the like make it p~udent to 20 wind up the fence 24.
In operation, the fishing weir of Figure 2 may be completely assembled on land, or partially assembled on land and then the assembly completed in the ocean. In any event, it is to be understood that 25 the fence would normally be unwound after the fishing weir had been located at its intended site in the ocean. The fishing weir is capable of being towed through the ocean using one or more fishing or other boats, either for installation or for relocation. It 30 may be desirable to attach the weights 27 after the fishing weir has been located or to temporarily hang or otherwise attach weights 27 to pipe 21, or the like, during transportation and to release weights 27 so that they are in the position shown in Figure 2 after the fishing weir has been located. Wall netting 22 and floor netting 23 may be lifted, at .
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least in part, for transportation of the fishing weir, to reduce the likelihood that the fishing weir will snag on rocks or the like while being moved from one location to another. After the ~ishing weir has been located and fully assembled, fish and especially schools of fish swimming through the ocean would encounter fence 24. The school would be diverted along fence 24 and into the enclosure of the fishing weir. Subsequently, the fish may be removed from the 10 fishing weir by fishermen.
In an embodiment, the fishiny weir has a trapdoor, generally shown as 39 in Figure 2, which may be opened by the fishermen. Fish may then be removed from the fishing weir through trapdoor 39 15 e.g. using a seining operation.
Alternative embodiments of the invention are shown in Figures 3 to 6. As seen in Figures 3a to 3c, the bull ring 30 and guide wires of Figure 2 may be replaced by reinforcing cross-members 40 20 e-xtending across the flotation means in the plane thereof to maintain the pipe in the desired configuration. These reinforcing cross members may be preferable to use instead of the bull ring and cables because the cross-members tend to resist both 25 compression and expansion forces. These cross members are preferably polyethylene pipes. In Figure 3a, a single reinforcing cross-member extends across the diameter of the tubular support means 43 in the plane thereof and a pair of cross members 44 extend 30 perpendicular to the single cross-member 42. In Figure 3b, a cross-member 46 extends across the diameter of the support means 47 and a cross-member 48 extends perpendicular thereto. A pair of divergent cross-members 49 extend generally perpendicular to the cross-member 46.
Figure 3c shows the use of such cross-members to maintain the pipe 42 in an ' -.

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alternative ~igure eight shc?e. In this embodiment, three aligned cross- member~ extend across the widest portion o~ the support mean- 51 and two cross-members 52 extend generally perpend~-ular to the three cross members near the narrowest Fortion of the support means 51.
In all of the embociments of Figures 3a-c, the cross-members ~0 may be connected to one another and to the pipe by a couplir3s such as those shown in 10 Figures 8, 9, lOa and lOb. All of these couplings are provided with rubber inserts inserted into the cross-member to compensate far relative movement between pipe and the cross-~embers. The coupling 80 in Figure 8 comprises a rub~ar insert 82 having a 15 steel core 84. This insert is inserted into an open end of a cross-member 40 anc is secured by pins 85.
The insert has a protruding ~ortion B6 extending around the periphery thereo~ near an outer end 87 thereof. Also integral with this outer end 87 is an 20 eye portion 88 having a hole 90 therein. A pin 92 extends through this hole 9C and has the ends 93 of a cable 94 connected thereto. The cable is wrapped around the pipe 96 to which the cross-member is to be connected.

Figure 9 shows a ccupling 100 comprising a - rubber insert 102 press fittad inside the end of a cross-member 104. The insert has a recess 105 in the outermost end 107 thereof and a bolt 106 extends -30 across the diameter of this recess 105 and through the walls of the cross-member 104 and the insert 102. A cable 108 may be pacaed around this bolt in this recess 105 and around tne pipe 110 to which the cross-member is to be connected to hold them 35 together.

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Figures lOa and 10b illustrates a coupling ~; 112 similar to that of Figure 9; however, in this embodiment, an insert 114 is fitted into a cross-member 116 until a rib 118 of the insert 114 abuts the end 120 of the cross-member and the insert is then bolted into place by bolts 122 extending around the periphery thereof. The insert 114 is hollow and has a pair of plates 122, 123 mounted in the interior thereof at the internal end 124 of the insert. A bolt 126 passes through the innermost plate 122 of these two plates and the threaded end 128 thereof passes through the outermost plate and is held in place by a nut 130. The nut 130 is turned to draw the innermost plate 122 towards the outermost 15 plate 123 causing the rubber 132 between the two plates to expand radially against the inner wall 134 of the cross-member. This embodiment provides a good seal of the cross-member and a strong attachment between the insert and the cross-member.
An alternative pipe configuration can be seen in Figures 4a and 4b. In this embodiment, two closed loops 54 of piping are provided which are connected together by a boom 56. As may be seen in Figure 4b, each loop 54 has fish netting depending 25 from it to provide walls 58 and floors 60. Each loop 54 also has a respective chute 62 associated with it. These chutes 62 face one another and a fence 64 identical to that shown in Figure 2 extends between them.
It is to be appreciated that substantially any piping configuration can be used provided that the walls of the weir define at least one generally circular path. This is necessary to ensure that the fish do not escape out o~ the weir through the chute, 35 since fish naturally tend to swim in a circular path.

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To emove fish from the weir, the netting may be lifte~ to force fish out of the trap door (shown as 39 in Figure 2) and into a net. Figures 5 and 6 illust-ate pre~erred embodiments of the invention in luding means to raise the netting. In the embodime~t of Figure 5, a hollow boom 66 is attached to :he bottom of the walls 67 of the weir.
Weights 69 m~y be attached to this boom or to the net. ~uring normal operation, this boom would be filled with Yater. When it is desired to raise the netting, air can be injected into the boom to replace the water through inlet 68. The boom will then float upwards. In the embodiment of Figure 6, a plurality of cables 70, only two of which are shown, are 15 attached at ane of their ends to the bottom 71 of the wall 72 of t~e weir at spaced locations. Columns of spaced guide loops 73 are attached to the netting and extend verti~ally from just above the point of attachment o^ each of the cables to the pipe 74. The 20 cables 70 ar~ threaded through guide loops 73. To raise the ne-ting, the ends of the free cables are pulled or wo-lnd onto a winch.
- In ~nother embodiment depicted in Figure 7, the ropes 26 of the weir may be replaced by elastic 25 cords 100. ~s shown in ghost outline in Figure 7, these cords :00 stretch during high tide to allow the flotation me~ns 102 to float on the surface of the water and st ll allow the weights 104 to remain on the floor of the body of water. Floor netting 23 may 30 therefore be eliminated.
The fishing weir of the present invention has a number of advantages. In particular, the ~ishing weir is capable of being moved from one location to nother, to reduce or prevent damage during stor~a or the like or to relocate the fishing weir in a mo e suitable or promising location. The ~:

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~25~i288 fishing weir may be removed from the ocean, for repairs or for storage for a period of time e.g. over the winter months. The fishing weir has flexibility and is capable of withstanding the forces of th~
ocean or storms better than a fishing weir that is formed from stakes driven into the ocean floor. The life expectancy of the fishing weir is also significantly longer than that of a traditional weir constructed using wooden stakes.

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Claims (13)

CLAIMS:

1. A fishing weir for use in the ocean, said fishing weir comprising:
tubular support means forming at least a major portion of the perimeter of the weir, said tubular support means being adapted to float on the surface of the ocean and to support the fishing weir;
fish netting attached to said tubular support means to form the walls of the weir, an inlet chute formed in the walls of the weir, the walls of the chute being attached to the walls of the weir, said chute extending into the weir and being adapted for the passage of fish into the weir; and weights attached to said fish netting.

2. The fishing weir of Claim 1 in which the tubular support means is formed from a synthetic polymer.

3. The fishing weir of Claim 2 in which said polymer is polyethylene.

4. The fishing weir of Claim 1 in which a bull ring is located within the weir in the plane of the tubular support means and a plurality of guide wires are attached to both the bull ring and the tubular support means.

5. The fishing weir of Claim 1 in which the shape of the weir, including the walls of the inlet chute, is substantially cardioid.

6. The fishing weir of Claim 1 further comprising a fence having flotation support means with fish netting attached thereto, said fence being connected to said tubular support means.

7. The fishing weir of Claim 1 in which the tubular support means is figure eight shaped.

8. The fishing weir of Claim 1 in which a plurality of reinforcing members are connected to the tubular support means and extend across said tubular support means in the plane thereof.

9. The fishing weir of Claim 1 wherein said tubular support means comprises a pair of adjacent closed loops, said weir having a pair of chutes, each chute being associated with a respective one of said closed loops, said chutes being located adjacent to one another, and wherein a fence is located between said chutes.

10. The fishing weir of Claim 1 further comprising means for lifting the walls of said weir.

11. The fishing weir of Claim 10 wherein a boom is attached to the bottom of the walls of said weir, said boom being hollow, and wherein air inlet means are provided in said boom to allow for the introduction of air therein.

12. The fishing weir of Claim 10 wherein a plurality of cables are attached to the bottom of the walls of said weir and are slidably engaged with the tubular support means.

13. The fishing weir of Claim 1 wherein said fish netting includes a plurality of longitudinally extendable elastic cords.