Spirit of Reedville "Purse Boat"

Spirit of Reedville, one of the c1980s metal clad purse boats, was gifted to the Museum in _______ once it was decommissioned by Omega Protein. The vessel is maintained by Omega for the Museum. Fitted with the standard gear on a purse boat, it is an ode to the not-to-distant past. The large boats owned by Omega and used for catching Menhaden each have two purse boats that are lowered into the water once a school of fish have been spotted (by a spotter plane). The boats are equipped with seine netting that is mechanically lowered into the water. The two purse boats run in opposite directions, dragging the netting to create a “purse” that encircles a large catch (approximately 100,000 fish at one time). A mechanical system draws the nets together and the fish are quickly vacuumed into the large boat and flash-frozen in the hold.