How do fishermen lose their nets?

Question
Helloo, Cap'n! I was reading an article the other day about a Lebanese
fisherman who had to cross the Lebanese-Syrian border to retrieve a net that
had drifted into Syrian waters overnight. And I wondered how it would be
possible for fishermen to let their nets drift that far away? Could it simply
mean that they didn't fasten it to something well enough (I don't know much
about this stuff and have no idea what is usually fastened to where, so extra
detail here would really be appreciated)? Also, how would they go about
looking for a single net in a vast ocean? Thanks a mil!

Answer
Adam-

many times, a net fishermen loses nets due to another ship or fishing vessel "Dragging" their nets over territorial or personal issues and sometimes even by accident. If this happens, the nets will not be in the position saved by the Captain of that Vessel on his Chart Plotter and many of them are never found. He returns to his location to find nothing in this instance. Without a beacon indicator or tracking device of some kind, there will be no way to find the lost gear within a realistic time frame in most cases.

Depending on the type of gear and expenses involved, many of the fishermen will hunt the net for quite some time if they feel it was an accidental drag because the skipper dragging the net may notice the extra drag on his vessel and cut it loose, which sets the net adrift. If the gear was being dragged intentionally, the skipper of that vessel may drag it miles away from the fishing area so it will not be found by the other group. This also happens in the northeastern US with strings of lobster pots.

In short, it could be malicious or accident, but I will say this.... Nets aren't good in any case. They kill far too many fish to be legal in my personal opinion.

I hope this helps and thanks for choosing to use ALLEXPERTS.

Capt. Richie Lott
www.richielottoutdoors.com