AND THE FISH THEREOF. 123 



Adriatic, and were, moreover, for a succession of years comprised in the 

 Austrian fisheries. 



Fisk-weirs (Fischwehren^ Fischz'dune) Scrragli, or Serragie, constructed 

 either of nets (S. di reti)> or of reed-screens {S. di grigiuoli) 1 fixed to piles 

 driven into the bed ; the latter mode is adopted near Grado, Capo d' I stria, &c. 

 The thickness of the screens varies according to the use they are put to, in 

 some places doubfe or treble screens being used. From point to point the 

 screen sides are made to converge towards one another, forming a funnel- 

 shaped enclosure called lavoriero ; at the narrowest point are fixed the 

 Cogo/o-nets, which allow of the entrance of the fish, but from which the exit 

 is impossible. As the tide recedes, the fish find their way into the Cogbh, 

 which are drawn up by means of a float to which they are attached, and 

 emptied of their contents. The Cogbli are made of three different sizes, as 

 regards the size of mesh and of the entrance, according to the species of fish 

 for which they are intended, viz., for eels, grey mullet, and gobies. 



The foundation of the serragli is commonly called zocco, and by the 

 valligiani, i.e., the people who have charge of the ponds, sciassa ; the broken 

 and useless reed-screens, which have to be cleared away before new ones are 

 set, are called scattaroni, and the act of clearing them away, which is done 

 once or twice a year, scattaronare. 



Fish-ponds (valli), chiefly on the coast of Venice, 2 also on the coast near 



1 Grigiuoli, Griziole, and Canne are screens, or mats, made of marsh reeds by fastenings or 

 ties, called drezze : when the reeds are fastened together singly, the screen is called pesson, and 

 when in bunches griziole. Their height is regulated according to the number of drezze they 

 contain ; the higher ones have eighteen, the lowest four or five ; the drezze should be a foot 

 apart : 100 drezze form a cusidura — a term used in contracts. 



2 The Venetian lagoons comprise that of Marano, or Friuli, with an area of 55 square miles 

 (60 to i°); that of Caorle (area 160 square miles), and that of Venice proper (200 square miles) : 

 to these may be added the lagoon of Chioggia, lying to the south (33 square miles), and the 

 lagoon of Comacchio with an extent of 49,000 hectares. (See "Industrie de la Lagune de 

 Comacchio," by Coste ; also Friedlander, "La pesca nelle Lagune di Comacchio," 1S72; also the 

 "Fisheries of Comacchio and Ferrara," by Mr. Consul Colnaghi, September, 1876, in the Consular 

 Reports, 1877, and Journal S. A., vol. xxv., No. 1,304). North-East of Comacchio are the minor 

 lagoons of Messola (23,000 hectares), Codigoro (2,374 hectares), and Massa Fiscaglia (1,000 

 hectares). 



R 2 



