TRAWLING. 85 



We have often found a remarkable discrepancy in 

 the soundings given by the fishermen for any particular 

 locality and those marked on the Admiralty charts. 

 For example, in the Great Silver Pit, the trawlers will 

 tell you that they work in 50 fathoms, particularly 

 about the middle and near its western end ; yet there is 

 nothing over 40 fathoms marked in the charts. Again, 

 we have been told of heavy catches of fish being made 

 in 50 fathoms near the Wolf Rock, on the Cornish 

 coast ; but there are no soundings of that depth marked 

 within many miles of that locality. The use of charts 

 is understood by many of the deep-sea fishermen, and 

 they have told us over and over again that they often 

 cannot make their soundings agree with those of the 

 Admiralty. It might be supposed that the fishermen 

 on these occasions were not on the right ground; but 

 the position of the Silver Pit is very well known to 

 them, and there are no chart soundings coming near 

 50 fathoms within a long distance of that particular 

 locality. The difierence between high and low water will 

 not account for anything like 10 fathoms ; yet we can 

 hardly suppose the charts are wrong ; and it is almost 

 as difficult to believe that the fishermen, who are 

 constantly using the lead, should be so far out. 



The condition of the trawl-fish when brought up in 

 the net depends very much on the state of the weather, 

 the length of the haul — that is, the time during which 

 the net has been at work — and the quantity and kinds 

 of fish which have been caught. The weather affects the 

 condition of the fish, because if there be much sea on 

 the trawl does not work steadily over the ground, and 

 the fish collected at the cod-end are jolted and jerked 

 with every sudden strain on the trawl-warp ; this con- 

 tinues whilst the slack of the warp is being hauled in ; 



