In England and in Scotland, after centuries of experience, the netter has been so restricted in the use of the destructive engines which were formerly in use there that at the present time many of the more important rivers continue to uphold almost their original standard of fish,—thus actually benefiting the tidal fisherman, the rivers' proprietors, and all concerned.
The conflict between gill-netters and cast-netters has existed at least since the 1940s. The conflict is about resource allocation since gill-netters, who are only a few in number, capture much more resources with less human effort than the large majority of fishers who use cast nets.