The Net Mender

“The Net Mender” painting by Alton R. Lowe

There are few men alive today, who remember the old ways of making a living from the sea. In the out islands, survival depended largely on how skilled a man was in maintaining his boat and his fishing nets. In this painting, a local fisherman is mending his cotton net. In his hand is a homemade netting shuttle with a cotton string, ready to fill in the tears of the net. The cotton string came in big balls from England or the United States. After a fishing trip, the nets were spread out on picket fences or net racks in the village to dry.

These men knew how to fish, and where to fish. They caught grunts, porgies, snapper, and assorted fish that could be sold or eaten locally by their families. In New Plymouth there is still today one man who (using nylon netting instead of cotton) continues this tradition. - Alton