Isaiah 19:8 laments the judgment coming upon Egypt: 'The fishermen will mourn, and all who cast a hook into the Nile will grieve, and those who spread nets on the water will languish.' The term denotes fishing nets spread or cast upon water, part of the ancient Nile fishing industry. The prophecy envisions ecological and economic disaster—the river's fish dying, the fishing industry collapsing. Fishing nets, symbols of daily sustenance and commerce, become useless when divine judgment disrupts the natural order. The parallel with 'those who cast hooks' confirms this is fishing equipment.