A hard day’s work on the wharf nets fishermen a 30,000-pound snare for mackerel.

Saturday was hardly a day of leisure for San Pedro fisherman Joe Ferrigno, the skipper of a 80-foot purse seiner that bears his last name.

By early morning, the 51-year-old Ferrigno and his 10-man crew had gathered on the wharf next to the vessel to work on the giant net that they use to snare blue mackerel from local coastal waters.

“The hardest part about doing this is the hours, the long hours,” said Ferrigno’s 24-year-old son, Ciro, a member of the boat’s crew.

The younger Ferrigno explained that he and the other crew members began tackling the task of enlarging the net Thursday, shortly after they had returned from a fishing trip. Before the fishermen started work, the net stretched 350 fathoms long and would reach down 49 fathoms into the ocean, he said. A fathom equals six feet.

Ciro Ferrigno said he and the others were adding seven fathoms to the net’s depth because the schools of mackerel the crew catches near San Clemente Island and elsewhere have been swimming deeper of late. The fishermen believe the schools swim deeper at this time of year to be in warmer water.

Several of the crew members, who worked with thick, 8-inch-long plastic needles, said they learned how to repair nets from family members, who also were fishermen.

“It’s like a trade, a family trade,” said 52-year-old Jimmy Ferreri, who said his father taught him how to be a fisherman.

“You have to have good gear so you can catch more fish,” he added.

Ferreri estimated that the net would cost at least $80,000 new. It weighs about 30,000 pounds, he said, and can hold a couple of tons of fish. He said crew members typically find themselves working on the net, repairing holes or making modifications to it, two or three times a year.

Not that they especially enjoy the task. Mike Battaglia, 35, said that in recent years crew members have been working about 300 days a year. And, he said, the added duty of net-mending means they get to spend less time with their families.

The Ferrigno was to head out again Saturday evening, as soon as the crew finished work on the net.

“It’s like anything else,” Ferreri said. “The harder you work, the more money you make.”