SINCE 1828
gillnet
verb
gill·net
| \ ˈgil-ˌnet
\
\
gillnetted;
gillnetting;
gillnets
Definition of gillnet
(Entry 1 of 2)
: to catch (fish) with a gill net
gill net
nounDefinition of gill net (Entry 2 of 2)
: a flat net suspended vertically in the water with meshes that allow the head of a fish to pass but entangle the gills upon withdrawal
Examples of gillnet in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web: Noun
A decade of rescue crusades by conservation groups, hard-core eco-activists and the U.S. Navy have failed to prevent the world’s rarest porpoise from becoming fatally entangled in gill nets set for seafood in Mexico’s northern Gulf of California. — Louis Sahagun, latimes.com, "To save the world's rarest marine mammal, conservationists seek ban on Mexican seafood imports," 11 July 2018 State officials suspect someone caught the shark pups in a gill net, then illegally dumped the bodies on land, according to the publication. — Don Sweeney, sacbee, "‘Sick to my stomach.’ Someone dumped 100 dead baby hammerhead sharks at Hawaii lagoon," 27 June 2018 The fishing village of San Felipe has embraced using gill nets to illegally capture the massive 120-pound fish and cut out their bladders, which when dried sell for as much as $30,000 in China. — Joshua Emerson Smith, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Illegal wildlife trade likely unstoppable without dramatic shift in public awareness," 22 Apr. 2018 The canneries were supplied by commercial fishers, who used gill nets to entangle the turtles, setting the nets in and around passes and channels the turtles used to travel in the bays and move between bays and the ocean. — Shannon Tompkins, Houston Chronicle, "Texas' green sea turtles exhibit remarkable resiliency," 13 Jan. 2018 In high-traffic areas, boaters have the tendency to cut their buoys, which can be attached to gill nets or lobster traps. — Melanie Bencosme, NBC News, "Ghost gear clogging world’s oceans is having ‘catastrophic’ effect, report says," 10 Mar. 2018 The Department of Natural Resources is evaluating a proposal for a study of large-mesh gill nets to target lake whitefish in Zone 3. — Paul A. Smith, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Smith: Local Great Lakes anglers aim to create a sport fishing board," 6 Mar. 2018 Poachers use gill nets to catch the fish, which can grown more than six feet long and weigh more than 200 pounds. — National Geographic, "Demand for Fish Bladder May Wipe Out World's Rarest Ocean Mammal," 11 Jan. 2016 The obvious step of ridding the gulf of gill nets requires a level of law enforcement that has apparently not been achieved, perhaps because of criminal influence on the totoaba trade. — Nick Pyenson, Smithsonian, "There Are Possibly Only 30 of These Rare Porposies Left on the Planet," 26 Oct. 2017These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'gillnet.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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