CHAPTER SEVEN 



THE FLATTIES 



THE rig of a trawl varied with the ground it was fishing and the 

 species it was out to catch. As years passed and the fish popula- 

 tions were reduced it grew ever more complicated and, perhaps, 

 efficient. Certainly the trawl evolved into a more and more speci- 

 fic hunting instrument, the rig for whiting diverging from the had- 

 dock rig, and, in the case of the herring, even the net itself was 

 modified to control the size and condition of the catch. Yet, apart 

 from this last, trawls fell into rough categories, those that were 

 meant to catch gadoids and those that were primarily designed for 

 digging flatfish out of their rocky corners or muddy beds . Usually, 

 in the North Sea, the rig was arranged so as to get the best of both 

 the marine groups, to catch, that is, flatfish and roundfish in al- 

 most equal numbers. Floats on the head-rope assisted the search 

 for the big bags of whiting and cod while the flatties were pursued 

 by ticklers in front of the foot-rope. 



Heavy chains, often rusted from long residence in the anchor 

 locker, were slung between the wings to stir up the sea bottom 

 and bring the flatfish out of hiding. These fish were a clumsy, 

 fierce tribe that lounged about, sinking deep into the substratum 

 until only their unlidded eyes rose moistly above the soil. Or, 

 stationary, they would sleep on a bare rock bed, their bodies tuned 

 to the irregularities of its surface and become invisible. Or, some- 

 times, they would ripple their fins into a motion of extraordinary 

 elegance and float lazily but delicately through the lower levels of 

 the water. Then, suddenly, one of them would skim, like a stone 



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