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VII.— TEAMMEL OE SET NETS. 



Description of ordiuary set-nets — Used for catching turbot, hake, &c., and 

 crabs in Scotland — Description of the true trammel — Its peculiar action 

 — Eed mullet at Guernsey. 



Under this head we in chide all those nets which are 

 set or fixed whilst they are at work ; and in which tlie 

 fish are caught by becoming entangled or " trammeled" 

 in the meshes. Two kinds of net are, however, com- 

 monly spoken of under the name of "trammel"; and 

 these, whilst agreeing in the manner in which they are 

 set, differ considerably in their principle of construction 

 and the mode in which they secure the fish. 



The net generally called the trammel, especially in 

 the south of Ireland, but a set-net on most parts of the 

 coast of Great Britain, is of a very simple character, 

 having much the form of the ordinary drift-net already 

 described, and ranging, according to circumstances, 

 from 20 or 30 yards to as much as 300 yards in length ; 

 the depth also varies, but never exceeds a very few 

 yards. It is shot in the direction of the tide, and is 

 anchored and buoyed at each end ; the intermediate 

 portion being supported by small cork floats placed at 

 intervals along the back-rope, and the foot-rope is 

 weighted with lead, or in some places with a simple 

 and inexpensive substitute in the shape of stones sewn 

 up in canvas. The size of the mesh varies according to 

 the kind of fish the net is intended to catch ; and as it is 

 important that there should be a good deal of slack net 

 so that the fish may be more easily meshed, the netting 

 is shortened up and gathered into puckers along the 



