BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 6 



The nets carried by boats A and B are fastened together, and the men 

 rest on their oars and await signals from one of the distant poles. If the 

 man on the pole toward the north (N) displays his "waif" in a manner 

 showing that a school of porpoises is approaching from that direction, 

 the men in the boat B commence rowing toward the position occupied by 

 D, paying out their net as they go. At the same moment the men in boat 

 D row south westward toward the beach, likewise paying out their net. 

 As soon as the porpoises have passed to the sonth of the position occu- 

 pied by boat C, that boat and A repeat the movements of B audD, but 

 row in a northwesterly direction. The porpoises are thus entrapped in 

 a huge pound, as shown in Fig. 2. The nets themselvesdo not reach quite 

 to the beach, but the fishermen find that by thrashing the water with 

 the top lines, they are able to prevent the porpoises from escaping. 



o 



N S N" 



pole. beach. pole. pole. beach. pole. 



Fig. 1. Fig. 2. 



The schools thus entrapped frequently consist of 200 or 300 individ- 

 uals, the power of which is so great that if they should rush violently 

 against any part of the net it would immediately break. The nets are 

 not, therefore, hauled to the beach, but remain in their original position, 

 except so far as they are carried northward or southward by the tides. 

 The actual capture of the porpoises is effected by means of sweep-seines, 

 sufficiently large to contain 30 to 40 individuals. The operation occu- 

 pies several hours. Very few individuals escape, and these mostly by 

 leaping over the nets, breaking the meshes, or running out near the beach. 



When captured, the porpoises, if not drowned, are killed by stabbing 

 with knives. The flippers and dorsal fin are cut off and thrown aside. 

 The skin and blubber are then stripped off together, and cut in pieces 

 for the try-kettle. The mandible is removed and its oil dried out sepa- 

 rately. 



The process of rendering the oil, so far as I could learn, is of the sim- 

 plest character. The amount obtained from a single individual does 

 not average more than or 8 gallons. The price per gallon received 

 has not hitherto exceeded 40 cents. The product has usually been 

 marketed in Elizabeth City or Norfolk. 



The fishery .will probably undergo certain important changes in the 

 immediate future, from the fact that a Northern company has contracted 

 to purchase all the porpoises captured during the next five years. In 



