AMERICA'S FISHERIES i69 



sinkers which keep the netting distended. Seines are 

 of two kinds; viz., haul or beach seines which are 

 employed close to shore in relatively shallow water, 

 and purse-seines which are used to surround schools 

 of fish in deep water. 



When using a haul-seine, the fishermen lay out 

 the net either parallel to shore or in a semicircle 

 with each end on shore, and then rapidly pull the 

 ends up on the shore, thus hauling the net and its 

 catch upon the beach. These seines vary in size from 

 the small minnow seines used in catching bait to 

 nets two thousand yards or more in length. 

 Especially long seines are used in the Columbia 

 River salmon fisheries and in the river herring and 

 shad fisheries of the Chesapeake Bay and North 

 Carolina. Mullet and squeteague are also caught in 

 this type of seine. 



The purse-seine, as its name implies, is a net 

 which may be drawn together at the bottom with a 

 line, just as an old-fashioned purse is closed with a 

 cord. This type of seine is used chiefly in the mack- 

 erel and menhaden fisheries. In fishing with this seine 

 a school of fish is surrounded with the net, and then 

 the seine is rapidly "pursed." When the catch has 

 been draw^n into a small section of the net, the 

 fishing-vessel comes alongside, and the fish are re- 

 moved by means of a bailing-net hung from a boom. 



The Fish Business 



Commercial fishing is a business and not a sport. 

 Although the fishermen use very effective means of 

 taking fish, they usually work long hours and in most 



