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Fishing weir
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A fishing weir is an ancient type of fish trap that is traceable back to Roman times in the UK. It is also a technology used by, among others, North American Natives and early settlers to catch fish for trade and to feed their communities.
In the UK the traditional form was one or more rock weirs constructed in tidal races with a small gap that could be blocked by wattle fences when the tide turned to flow out again. Surviving examples, but no longer in use, can be seen in the Menai Strait. In North America, fishing weirs are constructed using wooden stakes woven together to create a barrier that water can pass through yet fish cannot. The pattern of wooden stakes depends on the location and nature of the waters being fished.
Natives in Nova Scotia use weirs that stretch across the entire river to retain shad during their seasonal runs up the Shubenacadie, Nine Mile, and Stewiacke rivers, and use nets to scoop the trapped fish. Various weir patterns were used on tidal waters to retain a variety of different species, which are still used today. V-shaped weirs with circular formations to hold the fish during high tides are used on the Bay of Fundy to fish herring, which follow the flow of water. Similar V-shaped weirs are also used in British Columbia to corral salmon to the end of the "V" during the changing of the tides.