Our fish are harvested exclusively with set nets. The process of set netting might be compared to tying a sheet to a clothesline in the wind. Nets are "set," or anchored, perpendicular to the shore, usually in 25-fathom increments. The top of the net, floated by white synthetic corks, is tied to a line running between fixed anchors at both ends. The bottom of the net is a heavy, weighted line that sinks below the surface of the water. Between the floating line and the weighted line, the webbing of the net billows with the strong current of the tide. As fish move up and downstream with the tide, they are caught in the billowing, curved "basket" formed by the tide and net. Fish are either ensnared at their heads, by catching their gills in the webbing, or they are caught lying broadside, ungilled-held in the "basket" of the net by the tidal current.

With the net still in the water, still fixed at both ends, the fisherman approaches the net in his skiff. One of his two crewmen stands in the bow of the boat (the "front," pointed part of the boat), reaches into the water, and grabs the floating cork line. Then, he or she gathers up the webbing, all the way down to the heavy weighted line below the water, and pulls forward, dragging the boat underneath the net..

Now, with the net still fixed at both ends, the fishermen work their way up and down the net-with net running all the way across the gunwales (from "side" to "side")-in their floating boat, and retrieve fish from the webbing, by untangling their heads or opening the "basket" to let fish slide out.

Set net fishing is restricted by law to nets that measure 50 fathoms long by 2 fathoms deep (300 feet by 12 feet), per commercial set net permit. For sockeye salmon, the webbing of the net is usually composed of diamonds that are between 4 and 5 inches long, for a total mesh circumference of between 8 and 10 inches.