390 



A HISTORY OF FISHES 



countries, and led on to the development of more elaborate 

 structures composed of wattle fencing, and from these, by a 

 process of gradual evolution, to fixed nets. Baited hooks must 

 also have been used at a very early stage in man's history, the 

 first probably being somewhat similar to the thorn hooks still 



Fig. 137. — TRAWLS. 



A. Otter Trawl, viewed from above ; b. Beam Trawl, viewed from above, and 

 side view of front portion. (After Davis.) 



employed in parts of Wales and in the Thames estuary. Finally, 

 instead of waiting for the fish to enter the snare, attempts were 

 made to bring the net to the fish, and the first trawls or seines 

 worked from boats or from the shore were invented. 



Four principal methods are used by the commercial fisheries 

 of the present day, namely, trawling, seining, drifting, and 



