Harlan Hurd taking Herring in Rockport Weir

In the 1940s there was a herring weir in Rockport Harbor, here worked by Harlan Hurd. After a seine net is set and pursed inside the weir, the fish are dipped from the seine into a herring carrier, a sizable power boat that carried herring to a cannery and usually were cannery-owned. The late 1940s saw the height of the canning industry with the largest amounts ever packed. Just after this photo was taken herring carriers started to use fish pumps which could pump herring out of a weir or seine and into the hold of the carrier, saving hours of work.