purse seine

noun

: a large seine designed to be set by two boats around a school of fish and so arranged that after the ends have been brought together the bottom can be closed

purse seiner noun

purse seining noun

Illustration of purse seine

Examples of purse seine in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Some of these fish are caught in large nets, called purse seines, and dragged for thousands of miles to giant cages, where they are fattened up like geese for foie gras. —Julia Amberger, Nanni Fontana, Marzio Mian, & Nicola Scevola (tr. Elettra Pauletto), The Dial, 3 Apr. 2025

With some exceptions ** Tuna caught in the Atlantic or Pacific with purse seines without FADs is a Good Alternative. —Martha Shade, CNN, 16 Sep. 2023

Tuna caught with purse seines with FADs or by any fishing method in the Indian Ocean should be avoided. —Martha Shade, CNN, 16 Sep. 2023

Here is how they’re sourced: Wild: There are bluefin tuna that are caught in the wild in a number of ways, from purse seine (a large netting), to trolling (luring through lines of bait) and harpoon gear. —Jean Trinh, Los Angeles Times, 3 May 2023

The fishermen use purse seine nets that can be 300 feet in diameter. —Tom Yulsman, Discover Magazine, 2 Mar. 2020

But these purse seine nets also captured other species — notably, dolphins and sea turtles. —Michael A. Gardiner, San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 June 2022

Mike Conroy, president of West Coast Fisheries Consultants, works with purse seine and gillnet operators off California. —Caleb Jones, Anchorage Daily News, 27 May 2021

Even those with legal clearance are often armed with longlines or destructive purse seine nets that let nothing escape. —Adam Skolnick, Longreads, 10 Aug. 2020

Word History

First Known Use

1838, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for purse seine

• allegany
• miscellany
• theophany
• brainy
• cheyney
• grainy
• rainey
• zany