Flat netting gauge

Net tying used to be done by networkers, however, all fishermen knew how to make and repair nets. The indispensable tools of their work to this day are the fish net needles and the netting gauge, which is a small piece of wood with a round or flat shape. The netting gauge was used to make the mesh of the net and regulated the size of the mesh during the tying process, as well as when the net was repaired. The mesh of the net is diamond-shaped, the side of which is always equal to a fourth of the circumference of the netting gauge. The size of the mesh is extremely important as it determines the size and quantity of fish caught. In the collection of the Pomeranian Ethnography Department of the National Museum in Szczecin, 36 netting gauges of various sizes have been collected, the longer side of which varies from 3.5 to 8.5 centimetres. The example on display, made from a single piece of teardrop-shaped wood, has a moulded plane and was purchased for the collection in 1949 from a private individual. The auxiliary tools, among other things, including the netting gauge, are family heirlooms that have been passed from generation to generation. Małgorzata Kłosińska-Grzechowiak