AND THE FISH THEREOF. 115 



The crew of the three boats consists of fifteen men ; the cost of the net 

 and the boats is 1,500 fl., and of the wood burnt in one season by each group 

 of three boats 375 fl. The proprietors of the nets are often well-to-do people, 

 who have the fishermen in their employ, supplying them with cash and 

 provisions on usurious terms, besides drawing one half-share of the yield as 

 the share of the net (see Chapter VII., Division of Profits). 



The question of the seine fisheries versus the drift-net fisheries is often a 

 very vexatious one, and great rivalry exists between the fishermen exercising 

 the one mode as against those exercising the other. A great deal is to be said 

 for both, and there are no reasons for favouring the one to the detriment of 

 the other ; yet the drift-nets have sometimes been banished in favour of the 

 seine, although there is no satisfactory reason why they should not be placed 

 on a footing of equality, and suitable tracts allotted to each, to the exclusion 

 of the other. 



The drift-net fisheries are carried on entirely by the poorer class, and the 

 fishermen themselves are, as a rule, the owners of the craft and nets ; hence 

 greater consideration is due to them, if any difference is to be made, than to 

 the seine fisheries, the greater part of whose yield is absorbed by people who 

 have nothing to do with their immediate exercise and the labour and 

 dangers consequent thereon. Besides this, the fish caught in the bag of the 

 Tratta is often more or less damaged, and the produce of drift-nets is, for this 

 reason, infinitely preferred by the curing establishments. 



The Tratta d'Angusigole, or Agiigliara, Croat. Iagli v cara, is a seine 

 for gar-pike (Angusigole, Croat. Iaglica) carried on the deck of one 

 boat, the end being drawn by another smaller boat, by which the net is 

 cast in a circle, the end being brought back to the first boat, on which the 

 net is then hauled in. The net is well corked and remains at the surface ; 

 this mode of fishing being known as pesca a volo. Length, 100 m. ; 

 depth of centre bunt, 20-24 m. ; depth of wings, 2 m. ; mesh, 2 c. ; price, 

 300 fl. 



The Tratta da Sardoni is used for anchovies {Sardoni). Length, 

 150-300 m. ; depth, 20-25 m. ; mesh 1 \ c. ; price, 600-1,000 fl. 



The Tratta da Scombri is for mackerel {Scombri), Spanish mackerel, 



Q 2 



