Katstra

Katstra is a term that appears in early twentieth‑century maritime lexicon, primarily within Dutch and German nautical contexts. The word is believed to be a contraction of “kattenstrop,” meaning “cat rope,” a colloquial name for a certain type of improvised fishing line or net. In practice, a katstra consisted of a single long line fashioned from twine or canvas, sometimes with small weights attached at intervals to create a simple trawl. Its design made it suitable for rivers and shallow coastal waters where larger nets were impractical.

This device gained popularity among small‑scale fishermen in the Netherlands, especially in the province of Zeeland, where the tidal flats required flexible and lightweight gear. Historical accounts from the 1920s and 1930s describe katstras being employed to capture small fish such as mullet and anchovy. The term fell out of common usage by the late 1940s as modern nets and motorized boats became widespread.

Because of its limited geographical spread and brief period of use, few primary sources mention the katstra. Existing references are found in regional fishing guild records and in a handful of maritime folklore collections. Scholarly work on the topic is scarce, but the term is occasionally cited in studies of vernacular nautical equipment and as an example of how fishermen adapted to resource constraints. The katstra thus represents a small but illustrative fragment of maritime vernacular history.