What is "putcher"

A putcher is a type of fish trap (especially for salmon) in the form of a conical basket, similar in appearance to a five-foot ice-cream cone. Putchers are placed in rows, standing four or five high, in a wooden "rank" set out against the incoming and/or outgoing tides.

As a method of fish capture, putcher fishing is peculiar to the River Severn in Great Britain and is believed to be of prehistoric design. Traditionally the putcher was made of hazel rods with withy ( willow) plait, both materials being grown locally on the Caldicot and Wentloog Levels. Modern baskets made of steel or aluminium wire were introduced in the 1940s and 1950s.