SALT-HALIBUT FISHERY. 113 



The hooks, whether with or without fish, are not hauled into the dory by the man in the bow, but 

 are kept over the side until, as they are carried along by the ground-line, they reach the other 

 end of the boat, and are there freed either of poor bait or of fish. The bait is easily shaken off by 

 striking the hook against the gunwale of the boat, but the fish are not so easily managed. The 

 large size of the fish necessitates the use of something besides the fishing-hooks for pulling them 

 into the dory. Accordingly large iron barbless hooks, with a loop on one end for the hand to 

 grasp, are used for this purpose. 



But the fish must also be killed or stunned before taken into the boat or otherwise consider- 

 able inconvenience, to say nothing of danger, might be occasioned by their lively flapping. For 

 this reason killers are used. The "killer," which is also employed for unhooking the fish, is a hard 

 wood club about 2i feet long. The larger or striking end is round, while the handle is flattened a 

 little and has a notched end. 



When the fish comes to the stern of the dory the fisherman hooks it in the eye, or some 

 firm part of the head, with the large iron hook, and, after stunning it by hitting it several heavy 

 blows over the snout with the killer, hauls it into the boat. Frequently the fish has swallowed 

 the hook, and its extraction, were it not for the killer, would require considerable cutting and loss 

 of time. The flattened and notched end of this instrument is run down the gullet of the fish, and, 

 after the line is secured to the other end so as to prevent slipping, the club is turned, until, by 

 the coiling of the line, the hollow of the hook fits into the notched end. Then by a sudden push 

 downward and a jerk upward the hook is loosened and hauled out. 



The work continues on in this manner, the man in the bow doing the hauling, while his mate 

 attends to the coiling of the line, shaking off old bait, and taking the fish into the boat until either 

 the boat is full or else the trawl is hauled. In the latter case a return is made to the vessel. 

 Should, however, the boat be filled before the hauling is completed, and any other fishermen be 

 through with the hauling of their trawls, an oar is raised as a signal for a dory to come and take 

 the fish already caught, that the hauling may be interrupted as little as possible. If, on the other 

 hand, all the fishermen are busy when the boat-load is secured, the ground-line is buoyed at the 

 end of one of the 50-fathom pieces, while the load is carried to the vessel. Relieved of their load, 

 the men return to the buoy they have just left and continue the hauling. 



Sometimes the trawl is caught in the rocks, so that it is necessary to break it and commence 

 at the inside buoy for the hauling of the remainder. Should it be caught and broken the second 

 time, there is great danger of losing the part which is still in the water, unless it can be caught by 

 the grapple. The grapple is a chain, with an iron bar at one end, and having, at several places 

 along its length, circles of iron points 3 or 4 inches long, directed away from the end to which the 

 bar is attached. It is used in the following manner : Three men go in the dory, two to row and 

 one to attend to the grapple, which, fastened to a line by the end toward which the iron points 

 are directed, is let down until the iron bar drags upon the bottom, but not so low as to permit the 

 whole chain to drag. The men row back and forth over the spot where they think the trawl is, 

 and, if they are right in their calculations, it is hard to see how they can fail to grapple it. 



The fish are taken from the dories by the large iron hooks, already mentioned as being used in 

 the small boats. When a load of fish is brought to the side of the vessel, one of the fishermen 

 holds the stern and another the bow painter, while the man in the stern hooks the fish and hands 

 them up to his dorymate, who stands on deck ready to haul them on board. 



The last set was made August 27, and was done while the vessel was under sail. Compara- 

 tively little fishing had been done since the 20th, for the strong wind had prevented the setting of 

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