TRAWLING. 87 



nutritious food at the lowest possible price, but also by 

 vast numbers of people who can afford to make an 

 addition to their ordinary diet of beef and mutton. It 

 will be evident that as the profitable working of the 

 trawl depends on the fish caught by it being sent to 

 market in good condition, there would be no ready sale 

 for it were it not the rule that a very large proportion 

 of the catch was alive when brought on board ; for 

 there is a great difference in the appearance of fish 

 which have died after they are taken out of the water 

 and those which have been washed about in the net for 

 some time after they are killed. 



In the many opportunities we have had of seeing the 

 beam-trawl worked and of examining the fish as soon 

 as they were out of the net, the proportion of dead fish 

 has been utterly insignificant ; and those which had 

 suffered were usually among the small ones, some of 

 which are sure to be caught on all fishing grounds. 

 Grurnards, whiting, and haddock, when very small, 

 seem especially liable to suffer, and are apparently 

 killed at the end of the net by the pressure of the 

 larger fish above them. 



We have previously mentioned that trawl-fish are 

 classified under the names of " prime " and " offal," or 

 coarse fish; the former including turbot, brill, soles, 

 and doreys; offal comprising plaice, haddocks, gur- 

 nards, skate, and such other kinds as are occasionally 

 caught in the trawl. Red mullet must be excepted, 

 however, for although not strictly coming under the 

 head of " prime," they are what the Billingsgate sales- 

 men look upon as " West End " fish. The proportion 

 of prime to offal fish taken by the trawlers varies with 

 the season, and also depends very much on the parti- 

 cular banks or grounds worked over. 



