Art. YIII. — Notes on the Trawling Expedition off 

 Lakes E7it ranee. 



By T. S. Hart, M.A. 



[Communicated by Dr. Dendy, 13th July, 1893.] 



Trawling operations were commenced at the end of last April 

 off Lakes Entrance, with a view to obtaining the Government 

 bonus and establishing the industry. The boat obtained was the 

 s.s. Swatisea, of forty-one tons, twenty-two horse-power. The 

 trawling apparatus consisted of two trawl-heads of iron, connected 

 by a beam above and a ground-rope below, a net being attached 

 to the beam and ground-i'ope, and ending in a bag with a flap to 

 prevent fish escaping. The trawl-heads consisted of an iron bar, 

 bent so as to form two straight pieces diverging at about thirty 

 degrees, and connected by a curve at the front. At the sharp angle 

 the ground-rope was attached. One of the straight pieces formed 

 a sliding surface, and at the highest point the beam was attached, 

 the tow-line was fixed a little above the middle of the curved 

 part. The trawl-heads in use at first weighed about 180 pounds 

 each, and the beam was about forty-nine feet long, and eight inches 

 in diameter; the ground-rope being about double that length. The 

 net had a mesh of about two inches for the greater part. When I 

 reached Lakes Entrance on the evening of 1st May, they had 

 been out once or twice and not caught much, and were putting in 

 a lighter beam, about six inches in diameter. After this was done 

 and the sea had become a little calmer, a start was made. The 

 trawling apparatus was carried, when not in use, along the port 

 side, and lowered and' raised there, the tow-rope being brought 

 round to the stern after it was lowered. The raising and lowering 

 took about two hours, owing to there being only one winch on 

 board, and the side of the boat being obstructed by railings and 

 other things. It was stated on board by the men who were 

 engaged as experts in trawling, that it should only have taken 

 about twenty minutes with proper appliances and arrangements. 

 The time the net was left down varied from four to eleven hours. 



