BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 153 



10 SOME OF THE EARLY RESULTS OF THE INTRODUCTION OF 



COD GILL-NETS AT GLOUCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, 1SSO-1881. 



By S. J. MARTIN. 



[Letters to Prof. S. F. Baird.] 



A few remarks on the cod gill -nets used by 0aj)t. George H. Martin 

 on the schooner Northern Eagle. He set them one night on the Honey- 

 pinks, and got 1,000 pounds of cod ; but the bottom was rocky, and the 

 nets were somewhat injured. Afterwards, he set them in Spanish Bay r 

 and obtained 4,000 pounds in two nights. The fish were very large, 

 averaging 22 pounds apiece. The catch of the nets was greater than that 

 of the trawls. One boat fishing close to the nets with 10,000 hooks got 

 2,000 pounds. Captain Martin thinks the nets will work well. Those he 

 has are 50 fathoms long and 3 fathoms deep, with glass ball floats, like 

 those which we used ; but the twine is too small and breaks easily. He 

 has gone to Boston to get eight more, made of salmon twine, with a 

 length of 100 fathoms each and a 10-inch mesh. The fish are scarce. I 

 will keep you posted on the nets. 



Gloucester, Mass., December 1, 1880. 



The schooner Northern Eagle made a second trip down in the bay 

 and obtained 6,000 pounds of large cod, which were sold in Boston for 

 3£ cents per pound. She had no bait bill. The schooner Breeze went 

 out at the same time, and had a bait bill of $54. She used 10,000 hooks 

 on the same ground where the nets were set and took 7,000 pounds, half 

 of her fish being small. 



They are going to have three nets, 50 fathoms long, to a dory, which 

 will make twenty-seven in all. I think that after they are equipped 

 they will get a good trip in two nights. The men no longer get their 

 fingers cold by cutting up frozen herring, and do not have the trouble 

 of baiting trawls. The decks are clear, and when the nets are hauled 

 the fish are put into a pen on deck and salted. The nets have, each, 

 twenty-two glass-ball floats, and twenty-two bricks for sinkers. The 

 herring catchers don't like to see them introduced. 



Gloucester, Mass., December 10, 1880. 



The Northern Eagle has made a third trip to the bay, with the cod 

 gill-nets. She was gone two days. The weather was bad, but they 

 set the nets five times and got 15,000 pounds of large cod, averaging 23 

 pounds apiece. Eight thousand pounds were taken at one haul. The 

 first nets they had are condemned; the twine of which they were 

 made was too small and they were torn all to pieces. They now have 

 twenty-four nets, 50 fathoms long, with a 10-inch mesh, all made of salmon 



