Community

Longtime local fisherman donates net for display with Shenandoah

A scene reminiscent of earlier days in Gig Harbor played out on Friday, April 4, in the Harbor History Museum’s parking lot as museum staffers inspected a fishing net donated by a veteran Gig Harbor fisherman.

Community Sponsor

Community stories are made possible in part by Peninsula Light Co, a proud sponsor of Gig Harbor Now.

The net will be displayed on the purse seiner fishing boat Shenandoah, centerpiece of the museum’s new Maritime Gallery set to open Saturday, April 26.

This fishing net will be displayed on the Shenandoah when the Harbor History Museum’s Maritime Gallery opens April 26. Photo by Chapin Day

The 150-foot-long net, complete with floats along the top edge and a lead line along the bottom, is a segment of an 1,800-foot-long net used for 20 years by Randy Babich from his purse seiner Paragon.

Babich told Gig Harbor Now the net’s primary use was to harvest chum salmon in waters off Gig Harbor and at the mouth of the Hood Canal.

He sold Paragon about three years ago but remains active in the fishing industry, processing other chum harversters’ catches into other products, including caviar.

Museum Executive Director Stephanie Lile told Gig Harbor now that she’s grateful both for the net donation and the work being done to prepare it for display.

“A fishing seiner without a net wouldn’t be a fishing boat,” she said.