The Shipping in the 17th and 18th Centuries - Dutch Fleet-4 Skate and basket fishing (Vleet-en korvisserij)
Posted: Wed Nov 12, 2025 1:36 pm
Fleet fishing was a passive form of sea fishing, primarily for herring. It involved the use of standing gear or standing nets. A series of such interconnected herring nets formed a fleet.
From the fishing vessel—earlier the bomschuit (boat) and the buis (pipe), later the lugger and the sloop —the skate was launched, which hung like a hanging curtain in the sea and was several kilometers long. Although the principles of skate fishing were similar—fishing for herring with standing gear—the design of the skates of the Dutch differed from that of the Scots . The Dutch skate was a zinc skate, the Scottish skate was called a drifting skate .
The skate was released in the late afternoon—called "schiet"—and brought in at night, which was called "halen" (harvesting). The herring, moving through the seawater in schools, had, over the hours, become entangled in the meshes of the nets. Their gills became snagged on the cotton thread used to make a herring net.
The expression "catching fish by the dozen" doesn't refer to the skate species, but to the form of driftnet fishing used for centuries to catch herring in the North Sea. Other fish living freely in the water column, such as sprat and anchovies, were also caught using skates. Skates were long, linked, fine-mesh driftnets suspended upright in the water from floats. Undersized fish could escape through the meshes in the net.
Information in margin of Ms
Flatfish fishing was a passive form of sea fishing, primarily for herring. It used so-called standing gear or standing nets. A series of such interconnected herring nets formed a flatfish. In trawling, a bag-shaped net, a trawl, was dragged across the seabed to catch flatfish.
The stamp design on Ms is based on etchings by Gerrit Groenewegen (1754–1826), a Rotterdam artist best known for his seascapes and masterful ship etchings. Between 1786 and 1801, he created a series of 84 etchings, each a detailed depiction of a contemporary vessel.
Nederland 2025, (1,1,1,1,1) Ms.
Sources: https://www.vleet.be/vleetvisserij/, and other sites.
From the fishing vessel—earlier the bomschuit (boat) and the buis (pipe), later the lugger and the sloop —the skate was launched, which hung like a hanging curtain in the sea and was several kilometers long. Although the principles of skate fishing were similar—fishing for herring with standing gear—the design of the skates of the Dutch differed from that of the Scots . The Dutch skate was a zinc skate, the Scottish skate was called a drifting skate .
The skate was released in the late afternoon—called "schiet"—and brought in at night, which was called "halen" (harvesting). The herring, moving through the seawater in schools, had, over the hours, become entangled in the meshes of the nets. Their gills became snagged on the cotton thread used to make a herring net.
The expression "catching fish by the dozen" doesn't refer to the skate species, but to the form of driftnet fishing used for centuries to catch herring in the North Sea. Other fish living freely in the water column, such as sprat and anchovies, were also caught using skates. Skates were long, linked, fine-mesh driftnets suspended upright in the water from floats. Undersized fish could escape through the meshes in the net.
Information in margin of Ms
Flatfish fishing was a passive form of sea fishing, primarily for herring. It used so-called standing gear or standing nets. A series of such interconnected herring nets formed a flatfish. In trawling, a bag-shaped net, a trawl, was dragged across the seabed to catch flatfish.
The stamp design on Ms is based on etchings by Gerrit Groenewegen (1754–1826), a Rotterdam artist best known for his seascapes and masterful ship etchings. Between 1786 and 1801, he created a series of 84 etchings, each a detailed depiction of a contemporary vessel.
Nederland 2025, (1,1,1,1,1) Ms.
Sources: https://www.vleet.be/vleetvisserij/, and other sites.