Lift nets, also called lever nets, are a method of fishing using nets that are submerged to a certain depth and then lifted out of the water vertically. The nets can be flat or shaped like a bag, a rectangle, a pyramid, or a cone. Lift nets can be hand-operated, boat-operated, or shore-operated. They typically use bait or a light-source as a fish-attractor. Lift nets are also sometimes called "dip nets", though that term applies more accurately to hand nets.
Lift net mounted on a boat, detail from Fishing Boats at Full Moon, a Japanese print by Ohara Koson. 1900-1910.
Traditional shore-operated lift nets in Bocca d'Arno, Italy in a painting by Francesco Gioli
Hand lift net operated by a man on a bridge over Nandu River, Hainan, China
Portable hand lift net, operated in flooded irrigation ditches in Kebumen, Central Java, Indonesia
Salambáw, is a type of lift net used by indigenous fishermen in the Philippines. They are found throughout the Philippine islands but are most prevalent in large lakes like Laguna de Bay, and sheltered coastal areas like Manila Bay, Ragay Gulf, and Batan Bay. Variations of salambáw lift nets include the bintol, panak, tangkal, and the basnig. Salambáw rafts were also known as saraboa or salakab.
Pesca con el Sarambao (1847), a painting of salambáw fishermen by José Honorato Lozano
Salambáw lift net rafts beside Pasig River Light, Manila, Philippines (c. 1900-1902)
1855 woodcut of a salambáw raft in operation in Manila Bay by the French traveler Paul de la Gironiere
1873 illustration of a salambáw raft by German explorer Fedor Jagor
