BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 13 



fishery, would render the undertaking i)rofitless. While the matter of 

 fitting out was under consideration, gill-nets were suggested by the father 

 of Captain Martin, an employe of the Fish Commission, as a means to 

 solve the perplexities of the bait question. He thought the idea a good 

 one, and, together with several of his crew, visited the station of the 

 Commission at Gloucester, looked at the Norwegian nets tbat were there, 

 and consulted with the agent in charge as to the j)robabilities of success 

 and the methods of fishing with them. The result of this interview 

 was that he decided to fit out and give them a thorough trial, and nets 

 were therefore obtained for this purj^ose, part of them being supplied by 

 the Fish Commission. Before the trial trip was made, the writer met him 

 in Gloucester, and briefly explained the Xorwegian methods of using 

 the nets. It was thought, however, by Captain Martin, that they might 

 be '^ underrun," as trawls are sometimes, which would enable one man 

 to handle a gang of nets for which an entire boat's crew, six to eight 

 men,' is required in Norway. 



Ipswich Bay, where the nets have been tried the present winter 

 (1880-'81), lies north of the prominent headland of Cape Ann, which 

 divides it from the waters of Massachusetts Bay on the south. A sandy 

 beach extends along the northern and western sides of the bay, and the 

 bottom sinks gradually from this, only reaching a depth of 25 to 30 

 fathoms at a distance of several miles from the land. The bottom of 

 the bay is a vast sandy waste, with only here and there small patches of 

 rocks or clay, supiiorting but a small amount of animal life that may 

 serve as food for the cod. It is therefore a spawning rather than a feed- 

 ing ground for these fish, and large schools visit the bay for this purpose 

 during the winter, generally remaining until late in the spring. The 

 nets are usually set along the northern part of the bay, but a few miles 

 from the shore, in about 15 fathoms of water, where there is less current 

 than at some points along the coast. They have been found much less 

 liable to chafe than trawls, the latter being badly damaged during a 

 storm, while the former, which were suspended by the floats, were not 

 injured. 



The common dory has been used for fishing the nets, each vessel hav- 

 ing from seven to nine of them, according to the number of the crew. 

 The men go singly, one in each dory, and, while out, either setting or 

 underrunning, the vessel is kept under way, the captain and cook man- 

 aging her and i:>icking up the crew when the work is completed. Each 

 one of the Northern Eagle's crew, except the captain and cook, is pro- 

 vided with a gang of three nets, which are fastened together at top and 

 bottom when set, these forming a wall at the bottom of the sea 150 

 fathoms long and 3 fathoms deep, being held in position by an anchor 

 at either end. The anchor-lines are 50 fathoms in length, and one end 

 of each is bent to the upper corner of the nets, as represented in 



Plate XI. 

 Under favorable circumstances one man can set a gang of nets, by 



