7G DEEP-SEA FISHING. 



selves ; but the rope pressing closely on the ground in 

 front of tliem prevents this, and the sand, being dis- 

 turbed by the rope and the net immediately following 

 it, is raised in a sort of cloud whicli hides the slight 

 obstruction, so that the fish pass over the ground-rope 

 unwittingly, and once within the net they gradually 

 find their way to the small end of it. Should the fish, 

 however, by any chance turn round and dart towards 

 the mouth of the net, there would probably be a con- 

 siderable distance to go before they would be clear, for 

 the ground-rope sweeps the bottom from the foot of the 

 two head-irons to a distance of 40 or 50 feet back- 

 Avards to the bosom of the net, and this whole space is 

 enclosed above by the back, and at the sides by the 

 wings, so that there is no possible escape in any direc- 

 tion above ground but at the entrance under the beam. 

 The trawl is moreover moving forwards all the time, 

 and as flat-fish when disturbed only swim a short dis- 

 tance before they again try to hide themselves, it 

 almost amounts to a certainty that, if they do not bury 

 themselves deeply, they will sooner or later j^ass over 

 the ground-rope into the net. In the case of such 

 round-fish as keep close to the bottom, haddocks, for 

 example, the result is very much the same, for wlien 

 they are disturbed by the ground-rope tliey naturally 

 rise and pass the slight obstacle without knowing it ; 

 if, on the contrary, they dart towards the mouth of the 

 net, they may escape in that direction ; but tlicy also 

 will probably have some distance to go before they can 

 get clear, and the upper part or back of the net is an 

 effectual barrier to their escape upwards. 



The great resistance offered by the trawl to tlie for- 

 ward movement of the vessel towing it — a resistance 

 sufficient to reduce her speed from, say, eight knots to 



