Artifact Archive

These glass float "divers" were used in place of wood barrel floats in longlining for halibut and black cod. The advantage of glass floats was that they would not leak or sink as the tide increased, especially in areas like Icy Strait and the Lower Chatham where tides run hard. They phased out over time as bergen bags and plastic floats became available. Fishermen preferred the Japanese hand-blown floats over those with seams, as they were machine made and broke more easily. Other floats were made in Portugal, Spain and in the U.S.

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