With Net and Coble is a beautifully written retrospective of an archaic, dying (and now illegal) skill.

The author takes us on a journey through the waterways of Scotland, following the salmon along both beach and river, discussing the techniques of sweep netting: where they follow the fish and manually walk the net around to catch them. He takes great pains to emphasise the highly limited number of fish caught this way, comparing it to the great drift-netting commercial operations, and the environmental impacts of them both.

Filled with history, lore and legends, as well as a strong environmental message, this was a fascinting read. (Although not knowing the regions discussed did make it difficult to connect a little.)

~Many thanks to Netgally for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review~

With Net and Coble is a beautifully written and engaging ode to salmon fishing and tradition by George Chamier. Due out 30th Oct 2021 from Pen & Sword, it's 208 pages and will be available in hardcover format.

This is such a lyrical book which really resonated with me. It's full of recollections and reminiscences of a vanished and now outlawed method of sweep fishing. The author takes pains to distinguish the type of limited and skilled beach seine netting which follows salmon by eye and intercepts them in very limited numbers, and the sort of massive deep water drift netting which is responsible for the critical destruction and collapse of ocean biospheres we're seeing today.

The book is peppered with black and white photos of fish and fishermen, wildlife, and the wild places. The captions are well written and provide some good background info. There's also a glossary and cross-referenced index.

Much of the book is somber reflection: the rivers are in bad shape, the ocean even more so, the traditional skills are dying out and at risk of being lost forever, the health of the salmon is at risk from commercial fisheries which serve as ecosystem destroying spawning pools for parasite loads with which the local wild populations are ill-equipped to cope. The book ends, reflectively, on a guardedly optimistic note. One of the more profound takeaways for me with this book was the fact that I was fairly complaisant in my ignorance of "netting bad, fly fishing good". The author writes passionately and well about the traditions of net and coble fishing and the loss of a way of life and it's clear that he has a deep and profound love of the wild places and a deep feeling of stewardship and protectiveness.

Five stars. This would be a superlative selection for public library, home library, or gift for a nature/fishing enthusiast. Sublime wintertime reading material.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

With Net and Coble A Salmon Fisher on the Cromarty Firth by George Chamie
Love the poems throughout, the pictures and legends, superstitions and history and maps and so much more.
Scotland: This is a book about how the old timers would fish for salmon. What a skill to have to get the fish. Everything is well explained about how to do it.
Even one by themselves could do the job but it's very hard, harsh conditions and so much could go wrong and you'd lose it all.
Love the memories of 1960's and songs about ...flowers in your hair... I so recall those tunes also.
Love hearing of the cairns and other methods of fishing were done since centuries when it first started. The spear fishers I recall doing that on the shores here in NorthEast when it was almost winter the fish would beach themselves on the shore. Easy to spear.
There are so many mentioned that are now gone. Also story behind why the salmon are no longer caught this way.
Follows the author from a young age and all through his life and where he was at different times of his years and he does go back to the old way of fishing for salmon.
We had one species of salmon from the southern highlands of Scotland and it was the best we have ever had, Wester Ross salmon. That was one reason why I wanted to read this book.
Other is I love to hear about how others use their hands to make a living, whether it be fishing, gardening or sewing or working with metals.
Now the environmental agencies own the area. Love hearing exactly where they would locate the best fish and knew which ones to stay away from.
Tragic times also, with monofilament lines, with waders a few went under and couldn't get back to the top of the water.
Like hearing of the downtime when there's nothing to watch for so you take a nap on the beach and get to talk to your fellow fisher people to really get to know them.
So fun to listen about parties and cooking on the beach with fish and there are even recipes included in this story.
We have recreated a clam boi here in town at a relatives house where they dug a big hole in the ground and layered the clams and other foods with hay and seaweed and hours later it was done.
It was heavenly and so fresh tasting. The smelters went into production and author moved away...
So many problems arose over time and the author goes into detail about the problems and why they played a part in shutting down some of the industry.
Air over water is different than air over land. Reasons why author doesn't like farming salmon, in water using cages.
Birds and raptors of the area are discussed.
Reflections chapter ends the book along with a poem, The Last Fishers. Love how a fisher can be woman or man. Glossary is included at the end
and many acknowledgements. Such an awesome read. So many more pictures and what fascinates me is everybody is always smiling, they enjoy what they were doing.
I received this review copy from Pen & Sword, Pen & Sword History via NetGalley and this is my honest opinion.
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