21m 47sLength

From earliest times, fishermen have used traps to catch fish and shellfish. Today, many fishermen on the Scottish South East Coast still use 'pots' or 'creels' to catch lobsters and crabs. The type of creel used varies from district to district. Generally, it has a flat wooden base with a semi circular frame. It is covered in netting, with a weight and bait in the centre. The lobster is caught when it swims through one of 2 funnels in the sides of the net. The creel fisherman goes to sea early in the morning, around daybreak. His boat is often a simple small flat-decked boat. The flat deck makes it easier for the fisherman to stack the creels. Larger boats have a wheelhouse, with up to date equipment such as GPS (Global Positioning Systems) and 'plotters'. The skippers with larger boats often have a crewman. The fisherman lays his creels in 'sets' on the seabed. There is a main line, with a weight at the end. Up to 50 creels might be attached to the main line. They are fixed on strings, or 'beckets', set at regular intervals. At the end of the line is a marker buoy. First of all the fisherman lifts the marker buoy. He then hauls the creels, one at a time. Bigger boats have a winch that makes this work easier. As they are lifted, the creels are emptied, rebaited and stacked on deck. After the last creel in the 'set' has been emptied they are then put back into the sea. The fisherman has to be careful that they have been stacked properly and that they are put back in the water in the correct order. If proper care is not taken, he might be caught in the rope and pulled overboard.