THE SEA FISHERIES 279 



presumably cannot see this wall of netting in the dark 

 and rush straight into it. Great quantities thus become 

 enmeshed and strangled. 



The vessel employed in this kind of fishing is known as a 

 " drifter," and as with the trawlers many of these are 

 now steam driven (Plate 97). The drifter is smaller than 

 the trawler, being about ninety feet long, and having a 

 speed of about nine and a half knots. The ships are not 

 usually fitted with large trawling winches, but carry steam 

 capstans on the forward deck, and the foremast is con- 

 structed so that it may be lowered when the vessel is 

 fishing. The nets are generally thirty-four yards long and 

 thirteen yards deep, and they are strung together so that 

 they may form a wall of netting as much as three miles 

 in length. The upper edge of the net is buoyed with corks, 

 while the lower edge is generally slightly weighted with 

 lead. Very often the net is not fished actually at the 

 surface but a few fathoms down ; it is then attached at 

 intervals by short ropes to buoys or floats on the surface. 

 When great lengths of net are used, as by the steam drifters, 

 a strong foot-rope is attached at intervals by short lengths 

 to the bottom of the net. When this rope is hauled on, 

 it takes much of the strain of the heavy nets which would 

 otherwise tear under the weight of a large catch. On 

 smaller boats, however, the foot-rope may be dispensed with. 



At about two hours before dark the fishermen start to 

 shoot their nets, and this they do across the tide. 



When the complete length of netting is out, the ship 

 lies with one end attached to it and drifts for several hours 

 with the tide (Plate 100). At about dawn, or even sooner, 

 the nets are hauled over the side by steam power over 

 special rollers, and the herring shaken out of the meshes 

 as the many yards of net are piled down into the hold 

 (Plate 98). 



