Six groups of figures are arranged across the sheet in two rows. Different to other studies of fishing people in the van de Velde’s œuvre these figures are casting shadows, rendered in wash, but is otherwise close in style. In the top row, two women are talking to each other, accompanied by a dog, next to a woman carrying a yoke and a young man. Below, three men are depicted, the one in the centre carrying a basket on his back.

The unsigned drawing is tentatively dated to about 1655, when the artist was particularly busy with grisailles, in which he introduced groups of people in the foreground.