Seine, Setline, and Trotline: Ways of Catching Sturgeon on the Lower Volga

The seine was the main tool of commercial fishing. It was stretched across the current or along known "sturgeon paths." When a shoal entered the net, fishermen quickly pulled it to shore. The work was collective: one person could not handle a large catch.

Setlines were placed on the bottom where sturgeon rested. A hook with bait — worm, piece of fish — waited for prey. Thus especially large fish were taken that a seine did not always catch.

Choice of gear depended on depth, current strength, and time of day. An experienced fisherman could tell by water color and gull behavior whether to set a seine today or better run a trotline along a pool.

Seine: Heavy Artel Work

A seine required dozens of pairs of hands. It was prepared on the bank: knots checked, holes mended, ropes tarred. A fault in the net meant a lost shoal and an empty shift.

Pulling a seine against the current tested back and palms. Fishermen worked in rhythm, matching steps so the net would not tear or sink into the depths. The crew leader gave short commands — by shout, without extra words.

After hauling the catch the net was folded again, fish counted, shares divided. Large sturgeon were set aside — they fetched more at the station.

Trotline and Hook Fishing

A trotline — a long rope with hooks at even intervals — was drawn behind a boat along a pool. Sturgeon feeding might take several hooks at once. This method required precise knowledge of depth and current.

In some places gaffs and spears were used — to take fish right by the bank, in shallow channels. Each tool had its name and its story in a fishing family.

Hook fishing was considered more "quiet": it did not frighten the whole shoal but demanded patience. A fisherman might hold a line for hours, feeling the slightest movement on the bottom.

Setline and Bait

A setline was anchored on the bottom with a sinker; the line was held on the surface by a float or oar. Bait was chosen by season: in autumn a piece of small fish worked best, in spring worms from the silt.

Setting setlines was taught to young fishermen separately from the seine — a different school of patience and observation. One had to know where sturgeon rested and where they only passed through.

Sometimes several setlines of different artels stood on one pool — boundaries were strictly kept so there would be no fight on the water at the height of the season.

Season and Caution

Fishermen distinguished spawning time from feeding time. During spawning fishing was especially important, yet even then they understood: without measure the river could be exhausted. Later that understanding underlay bans and quotas without which sturgeon would not survive today.

Forbidden places and dates were passed orally and recorded in artel books. Violation threatened not only a fine from authorities but expulsion from the artel.

Old men said: the river forgives a mistake once, the second time it takes the catch, the third — the boat. That was folk morality supplementing official rules.

Gear in the Museum Collection

In the museum one can see what this gear looked like — heavy, simple, made for human hands, not a motor. They remind us: the fishery was labor, not the press of a button.

The Museum of Sturgeon on the Volga keeps seines, hooks, gaffs, and boat models — material one can take in with the eyes and feel the weight of the craft.

Preserving these objects matters for Volgograd: through them children and guests learn what real fishing looked like before the age of motor vessels and bans on wild catch.