The net could be strung between two boats and then the boats would head to shore, pulling the net between them. If two boats were not available, then the net could be cast by one boat. The net could not distinguish between types of fish. The good fish were placed into baskets, while the bad ones were simply discarded to rot. There is a general consensus that the action of the net gathering the fish is symbolic of God's indiscriminate gathering of people at the end of the age for judgement.
Interpreters debate the significance of the fish.
Some suggest that the fish are symbolic of the mixture of righteous and unrighteous in the Church. This argument points out that the net only gathered some of the fish from the sea, not all of them. If the net had gathered all of the fish of the sea, it could refer to the judgement of all people. But since it only includes a portion of the fish, the reference must be to the judgment of the church. Although we cannot be certain as to whom the fish refer, if we are correct in identifying this parable as an eschatological parable of judgement, then the fish would likely refer to everybody.