160 DEEP-SEA FISHING. 



land, for the same purpose. At the latter place the 

 bmit of the sean opens into a long pocket made with a 

 very small mesh, and the fish collect in this as the net 

 is being hauled in, so that there is less chance of their 

 escaping than there is with the more simple form of 

 sean, which requires careful management of the back 

 and foot ropes when a large body of fish is enclosed. 

 The same plan is sometimes adopted at other places, 

 but we have not found it in very general use among 

 professional fishermen. Scans are worked on a large 

 scale for catching mackerel, pilchards, herrings, and 

 sjDrats; and smaller ones are employed for sand-eels, 

 smelts, or flat-fish. Various kinds of fish are frequently 

 taken by them at the same time, and they are often 

 shot without there being any very definite idea of what 

 they may bring in. Such kind of seaning is known in 

 Cornwall by the very expressive name of " blind- 

 hauling." 



The meshes of scans are in all cases made rather 

 small, particularly in the bunt; as the object in using 

 these nets is to enclose the fish, and not to mesh them 

 as with drift-nets. 



