FISHING NETS, WITH SPECIAL REFEEENXE TO THE OTTER-TEAWL. 569 



another as possible, these nets may have as wide a spread as our 

 otter-trawls. The wings are somewhat smaller than those of the drag- 

 seine above mentioned, but the bag is of enormous dimensions. From 

 the centre of the head-line to the end of the sac {culignoii) it measures 

 at least 90 feet (28 m.). As in the drag-seine, the meshes are very 

 small — 1 in. at the greatest — and there are no pockets; instead, the 

 culignon has the form of a triangle whose apex joins the main body 

 of the net. The base of the triangle, i.e. the end of the net, expands 

 at each side into two ears (anses), and from the centre of the base two 

 stout cords — one below, the other above — run up through the net 

 to join the foot-rope and head-line respectively. The object of this 

 eWdently is to press the fish into the ears and keep them there. There 

 is thus no need for flapper or pockets. The whole contrivance is, 

 however, very clumsy in comparison with the ordinary beam- or otter- 

 trawls. 



In the tartana fishing of Italy and the gangui d la voile of France 

 there is only one boat for each net. The nets differ considerably ; in 

 the gangui it is similar to the Jilct dc hceuf; in the tartana it is much 

 simpler, without wings or pockets. Both are alike, however, in ha\ing 

 a long pole of wood fixed some little distance in front of the net in 

 order to keep the mouth open. The boat which drags the net drifts 

 with the wind and tide, as is the case with the eel-drift boats of 

 Denmark. In the latter, however, the net has no beam or pole, but 

 the bridles are carried directly to the boat, the one forward to the 

 end of the bowsprit, the other aft to the mizzen boom. 



From these somewhat primitive types to the modern English heam- 

 traui* there is a considerable gap, but the beam-trawl is highly 

 specialised, and the early stages are quite lost. It differs from the 

 previous forms in ha^"ing the top of the net fastened directly on to 

 the beam, which again rests on triangular pieces of iron, called the 

 iron-heads. The honour of introducing this change has been claimed 

 by the fishermen of Barking on the Thames, and Brixham in South 

 Devon. For the later developments, however, the lengthening of the 

 square and introduction of pockets and flapper, the Brixham men 

 seem responsible. Since the description given by Holdsworth leaves 

 nothing to be desii'ed, it is unnecessary to enter into any details of 

 its structure.! 



"We come lastly to the otter-trawl, the most recent and most efficient 



* For an excellent description of the structure and working of the beam-trawl see 

 Holdsworth, loc. cit. 



t The size of mesh used in the beam-trawl varies according to the kind of fishing. 

 For whiting the mesh in the square is 2^ in. to 2J in. from knot to knot, and this 

 decreases to 1^ in. and then to 1| in. towards the cod-end. For ordinary fishing the 

 size of mesh is as in the otter-trawl. 



