Fisheries of the Gulf of Si. Lawrence. 45 



In the autumn, when the Herrings are in fine condition, they 

 are taken during a few weeks only, because our fishermen are 

 quite ignorant of the proper mode of curing to render them of value, 

 and are not aware of the manner of using drift nets in deep water, 

 which is so successfully practised by the Herring Fishers of Loch 

 Fyne, and other noted stations in Scotland. By a similar manner 

 of fishing, our fishermen could continue to catch Herrings until the 

 latest period of the fishing season, and those taken last would be 

 of the finest quality. The mode of fishing by drift nets, is thus 

 described by Mr. Yarrell, in his admirable work on British Fishes : 



"The net is suspended by its upper edge, from the drift rope, by 

 various shorter and smaller ropes, called buoy ropes ; and con- 

 siderable practicable skill isrequired in the arrangement, that the net 

 may hang with the meshes square, smooth, and even, in the water, 

 and at the proper depth ; for, according to the wind, tide, situation 

 of their food, and other causes, the Herrings swim at various 

 distances below the surface." 



"The size of the boat depends on the distances from shore at 

 which the fishery is carried on ; but whether in deep or in shallow 

 water, the nets are only in actual use during the night. It is 

 found that the Fish strike the nets in much great numbers when 

 it is dark, than while it is light; the darkest nights, therefore, and 

 those in which the surface of the water is ruffled by a breeze, are 

 consicbred the most favourable. It is supposed that nets stretched 

 in the day time alarm the Fish, and cause them to quit the place 

 where that practice is followed ; it is, therefore, strictly forbidden." 



Many thousands of barrels of the inferior " Spring Herring," 

 are taken at the Magdalen Islands every season, at the period 

 when they approach the shores of these Islands to deposit their 

 spawn. They are then very poor, and as but little care is taken 

 in curing them, they often prove unfit for human food. They are 

 caught in large seines, which require 15 or 20, and sometimes 40 

 men to manage them ; and they are capable of enclosing, and 

 bringing to the shore, from 200 to 1000 barrels at a single haul. 

 When taken from these seines, it is the common practice to put 

 them in the holds of the vessels, without washing, bleeding, or 

 divesting them of their offal. They are salted "in bulk," as it is 

 termed, and so they remain until the vessel arrives at the Port 

 whence she sailed, whether in the Colonies, or in the United States. 

 They are then taken out and packed in barrels, sweltering in all 

 their impurity ; but whole cargoes frequently prove worthless as 

 food, and are used for dressing grass land. 



