(This is the second in a five-part short story by Jim Brewer “Let Down Your Nets”)
The nets were the lifeblood of the fisherman of Galilee. Maybe even more important than the boats, the nets captured the fish. Their strength and durability were critical. And the nets that Shaina made were superb, the envy of every fisherman in Capernaum. To construct the finest nets, Shaina relied on the finest flax and she grew it herself on a small plot of land outside the village.
Fields of beautiful blue flax blooms dotted the fertile hillsides of Galilee. Tiny flax seeds were sown in early spring to reach harvest by summer. The seeds were placed in tight rows and very close together so the plants would grow tall and straight and produce long, strong fibers from the outer layers of the stem. The longer the sheaths, the stronger and more efficient the nets. Flax was also woven into fine linen, considered a holy cloth to be worn only by the priests. In the book of Leviticus, priests were strictly instructed to wear linen when entering the Holy Place for burnt offerings. Linen was pure. Wool, from an animal, was not.
But the flax of Shaina’s fields were for the fishermen. When the crop was mature, the plants were pulled up by the roots and then dried. The seeds were carefully removed and the dry flax straw was then retted – a controlled decaying process to separate the fibers from the woody parts of the plant stalk. The long, thin fibers were then cleaned and bleached in the sun.
The process of twisting and weaving the flax fibers was done strictly by hand and Shaina used her incredible skills to produce long strings of flax twine from which she would craft her nets.
The long twine was woven into a mesh and knotted at precise intervals. Different meshes were required for different nets and the fishermen of Capernaum used a wide variety of fishing nets.
A basic net was the casting net, a small circular net. Ranging from a few to as many as 15 feet across, fishermen used these nets to capture small baitfish when they dangled hooks and they also were effective for snaring small fish, like sardines in relatively shallow water. It took only one fisherman to use a casting net.
A lift net was one that was lowered in the water facing upwards and then tugged upward to trap schools of fish passing across. It would take several men to lift the nets, especially if the catch was good.
The largest net used by the fishermen of Capernaum was the dragnet. Beginning at the shoreline, the net was taken out by boat to deeper water, then turned parallel to the shore and then back to shore. When a certain amount of time had passed, and the fishermen sensed that a school of fish had passed by, as many as 16 fishermen would drag the heavy net back to shore. In the shallow water, they separated the good fish from the others, which would not be eaten or used. Baskets of fish were then brought to shore for sale or to be cooked or cured. A dragnet was like a long wall, sometimes a thousand feet in length. It took the skilled hands of Shaina many hours to weave and create a dragnet.
Another net, the trammel net was actually three nets in one and generally fished at night. There were the two outside nets with large openings through which fish could freely swim, but in between the two nets there was a net with finer mesh. The fish could swim through the outer net with no problem but became entangled as they swam into the net with the finer mesh. When the net was hauled in, fish were disentangled one by one and, then sorted and separated. Abbas and his crew were using trammel nets on the night of the accident.
Cleaning and mending the nets was an endless process for the fishermen of Galilee, but a necessary inconvenience. Rocks and shells were often pulled in with the nets along with unwanted vegetation. All the debris had to be removed. The nets were thoroughly inspected for holes and tears. A weak spot created extra pressure on the rest of the netting and could cause irreplaceable damage, and unless the nets were cleaned, rinsed and hung up to dry after each trip, they would rot. No matter the net that was used, fishermen always took the time to clean and inspect them after each use. Their very livelihood depended on it.
Next Week: Fishing With Simon