Learning the Ropes 



one of its pauses, on the belly of the net these fish would be 

 flicked past it, one at a time or in small bunches, as dead leaves 

 are whisked away by a light breeze in autumn. 



On the inside of the net, suspended between the batings and 

 belly there was a simple arrangement of flapper and pockets which 

 acted as a non-escape valve to keep the trapped fish in the bag, 

 though it was unlikely that any of them would have the sense to 

 look for the obvious way out. As Jan afterwards discovered, the 

 efficiency of the trawl depended largely upon the stupidity of the 

 fish it caught. 



But no fishing instrument is made of net alone. The panels of 

 lint have to be fastened to one another by ropes or wires. They 

 have to be tugged into shape by some kind of frame, before they 

 can be held fast in their fishing position. This is the business of 

 the rigger and it was to this that Jan now turned his attention. 



Primitive trawls had, as it were, a backbone of wood, a stout 

 spar that lay on top of the net, in the position now occupied by 

 the upper edges of the wings and the forward end of the square. 

 It was on these beam trawls that the prosperity of Brixham was 

 built, a port that became the premier fishing centre of the 

 country until the end of the nineteenth century. The pre- 

 eminence of Brixham dissolved as the new otter trawl replaced its 

 heavier and less efficient predecessor as the main instrument of 

 trawl fishing. Instead of a wooden frame, with steel bridles at 

 either side of it, to hold the mouth of the net open, the otter 

 trawl used two boards which, as they were dragged through the 

 water, were held by chains at such an angle that they sheered 

 apart from one another and pulled the net out tight between 

 them. They could thus dispense with the long thick beam of 

 wood that was so heavy that it was difficult to handle, so expensive 

 that it was ruinous to replace, yet so inflexible that it was often 

 shattered when it ran into an underwater obstacle. Instead of it 

 there was now no more than a simple head-rope, marled on to 

 the wings and the square : it connected one otter board with the 

 other. The graceful curve of a head-rope in action, buoyed up 



23 



