254 HISTOEY AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. 



When the vessel is not searching for fish the seine is stowed on a grating forward of the house, 

 between that and the after hatch. This grating is a frame-work, about 8 to 10 feet square, made 

 of boards from 4 to 6 inches in width, crossing each other at right angles. The boarding is sup- 

 ported on a frame- work of joists. The top of the grating is 4 to G inches above the surface of the 

 deck. When two seines are carried, the grating must be wider. When the seine is stowed in the 

 boat or upon the deck, it is always "salted down" to prevent it from rotting or burning. From 

 a bushel to a barrel of salt or more is used, according to the necessity of the case. When the 

 seine is thus stowed, it is often protected by a canvas cover. 



When looking out for mackerel the seines are generally stowed in the seine boats upon the 

 platform arranged for that purpose between the two after thwarts. The cork lines are stowed aft 

 and the lead-lines forward, the seine always being set from the starboard side of the boat. 



As has been stated, the small seine differs from the large seine only in its size, being from 150 

 to 175 fathoms in length and 10 to 12 fathoms in depth. These seines are used in shallow water, 

 and those vessels which have gone to the Gulf of Saint Lawrence for the purpose of catching 

 mackerel by this method have generally carried them. 



Many of the large schooners carry two seines whether they have two seine-boats or not, since 

 the deep seine cannot be used on rocky bottom in shallow water. 



The seine is always passed from the boat to the vessel, and vice versa, over the roller upon the 

 port side, which has already been described. To transfer the seine from the vessel to the boat 

 requires five or more men. The operation can be performed in from 15 to 30 minutes. To haul 

 the wet seine from the boat to the vessel is a somewhat laborious task, but as less care is required 

 than in stowing it in the boat, less time is usually needed to perform this operation. 



BAIT. Mackerel seiners usually carry a small supply of bait for the purpose of tolling the 

 fish to the surface and, incidentally, of catching fish with the jigs when they are not schooling. 



It may also bo mentioned that a border of stout twine (size 20-9), 15 meshes deep, extends along both the top and 

 bottom of the wings and arms of each end of the net. 



Size of the first wing, 125 yards long in the web, 1,000 meshes deep ; size of twine, with the exception of that for 

 the border, 16-6, hawser-laid ; size of first arm on the same end of the net as the wing just described, 125 yards long in 

 the web, 1,000 meshes deep; size of twine, exclusive of that in the border, 20-0, hawser-laid. Size of wing No. 2, on 

 the other end of the net, 150 yards long in the web; depth, 1,000 meshes; twine, 10-G hawser-laid. Size of arm No. 2, 

 1">0 yards long in the web ; depth, 1,000 meshes ; size of twine, 20-6, hawser-laid, exclusive of the border. 



Captain Merchant writes : "We always use for hangings 6-thread mauila right and left rope. In Boston factories 

 they sometimes use 9-thread mauila for bridle-rope, or ' loops,' as they are occasionally called." These loops, to which 

 the purse-rings are attached at the bottom of the seine, arc one part of the hanging-rope, and are made three fathoms 

 long, the spaces between them being the same distance. Thus it will be seen that the purse-rings are about C fathoms 

 distant from each other. Captain Merchant adds: "We use the left-laid rope for loops and the right for the sinkers. 

 The loops are formed by separating the ropes at what are called the ' bridle hitches.' Only one ring is attached to a 

 loop. The net has attached to it, when completed, 800 No. 1 corks, 1,200 No. 2 corks. The No. 1 corks, which are the 

 largest, are placed in pairs in the center of the bunt of the seine, at a distance of 10 inches between the pairs. The 

 'middle cork,' however, is made of three, joiued together and covered with canvas. This is for the purpose of 

 determining the center of the seine when it is being overhauled. The No. 2 corks are secured to the upper part of the 

 seine upon the wings and arms, being placed 15 inches apart. From 65 to 75 pounds of lead sinkers, which weigh from 

 2^ to 4 ounces each, are placed at the bottom of the seine. None of these are put in the bunt, but are scattered along 

 the foot of the wings and arms, being nearest together close to the ends of the net. The rings used at present are made 

 of galvanized 1-inch iron, and weigh about 2-J pounds each ; with the sinker-leads they make about lo'O pounds weight 

 attached to the bottom of the seine. One and three-fourth inch hemp rope is used for the purse-line, the length of 

 this being generally about 25 fathoms more than that of the seine. In hanging the seine it is ' taken up' at the 

 ends, so that one end is 7 fathoms deep while the other is only 1 fathom deep, though the middle of the net will go 

 down 125 feet. The iirst or deepest end is called the 'dory end' or 'outer end,' and the other is known as the ' boat 

 end' or 'inner end.' As will readily be understood by reference to the preceding dimensions of the purse-seine, the 

 difference in the depth of the several sections of the net, when hung, is due solely to the ' taking up' in the process 

 of hanging it,siiice the webbing is of the same deptli throughout. The pursr-seines. like ninny other things, are being 

 improved. Those we are making now (for the mackerel lishery) are much lighter than we have beeu making them in 

 former years, and can be handled with greater ease and rapidity." 



