232 BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 



the line of boats, waiting for the men to finish hauling their trawls or 

 signalize, by raising one of the oars, that they have a load of fish and 

 wish to be taken on board. After the lines have all been hauled the 

 dories are again taken on deck-, unless another set is to be made on the 

 same ground. When the dories set the whole length of lines it is very 

 unusual for a vessel to make more than one set in a day ; sometimes, 

 however, a smaller number of lines is set and the operation is twice 

 l)erforined. In exceptional instances, after the whole string of tubs has 

 been once set, a smaller number, perhaps a tub to each man, is set in 

 the latter part of the day. 



The operation of shooting alongside of the dories and picking them 

 up is one of the most difficult feats of seamanship which can be accom- 

 plished by a fishing schooner. 



The haddock trawls are often set in rough weather and at times when 

 there is what would be called a strong whole-sail breeze, and, occasion- 

 ally, when it blows hard enough to make it necessary to reef the sails. 

 After the trawls have been set and the vessel worked back to the 

 weather-buoys, if the weather looks at all threatening, it is customary 

 to take the bonnet out of the jib and put a reef in the mainsail, so that 

 if the wind should increase while the trawls are being hauled the vessel 

 can be managed by the skipi:)er and the cook — the onlj' men left on board. 



As might be exx^ected, men are sometimes lost in this method of fish- 

 ing, the losses being occasioned by sudden snow-storms which cut the 

 dories off from the view of those on board of the vessel, or by heavy 

 squalls which render it impossible for the schooner with only two men 

 on board to go through the necessary evolutions. 



It should be stated that the evolution of setting under sail is varied 

 at different times and by different skippers, but that the differences in 

 the manner of performing the evolutions are not of much importance, 

 and that the most common method is that which is here described. 



When fishing on George's Bank, the Gloucester haddock vessels are 

 obliged by the force of the tide to resort to another method of setting, 

 which is called ''double-banking the trawl." The tide is so strong that 

 the trawls cannot be set in the ordmary way, for the buoys would be 

 carried beneath the surface. Two dories are therefore lowered at once, 

 and joiutl}^ perform the act of setting; only two tubs are set by each 

 pair of dories. The set is made in the following manner: The men in 

 one of the dories hold fast to the weather-buoy while the men in the 

 other dory set the trawl. After the trawl is out, the dory Avhich sets 

 it hiAda fast to the lee buoy until by some signal, such as lowering the 

 jib, the skipper of the schooner gives the order to haul. The trawls are 

 left on the bottom 15 or 20 minutes before" they are hauled. The men 

 in the two dories begin to haul siuiultaneously; the anchors are thus 

 first raised from the bottom and presently the bight of the trawl and 

 the two boats drifti along with the tide, the distance between them grad- 

 ually narrowing as ttwy haul. 



Haddock are often found so plenty on George's that it is not nee- 



