THE CARIBBEAN AREA 



points they are tanned ivith a solution made of mangrove bark. At Isla Toas in Lake Maracaibo, 

 a tanning vat utilizing mangrove bark was seen — the only one observed by the Missicai. 



At the Gulf of Cariaco in Venezuela, haulseines are used in the capture of "arenque" 

 which are used for canning in the plants at Cvunana. Watchers on the hills blow conch horns 

 when a school of fish is sighted and the fishermen quidcly man their boats. The piragua has 

 the seine piled in the stem. As it starts out from the beach, one end of a hauling line 

 attached to one end of the seine is left ashore. The boat is rowed from shore in a semi- 

 circular course back to the beach with the net paying out. The net is then hauled to shore. 

 ■When the catch is larger than immediate requirements the net with the catch is often left 

 in the water. When Ush are needed, a smaller net is dragged inside the large net and the 

 necessary quantity of fish removed. The crew to operate a seine usually consists of 6 or 

 7 men but often more are enployed. Sometimes an entire village will help — each person getting 

 a small share of the catch. 



Gill nets (filetes or "trasmallas") : — These are used to only a limited extent in the 

 Caribbean area. They are rectangxilar in shape with the length varying between 20 and 150 

 fathcans and the depth from 1 1/2 to 2 fathoms. The size of the mesh varies according to 

 the type of fish to be taken and it may be 1 to 5 or 6 inches stretched measure. The mesh 

 size is in5>ortant since the fish are caught ^rtien they attempt to pass through the laeshes of 

 the net. With the right mesh size, they are able to pass about as far as the dorsal fin 

 insertion. Mot being able to proceed further due to the size of the mesh opening, the fish 

 attempt to back out and in so doing the twine lodges between the gill cover and the gills — 

 thus suffocating the fish, 



While linen thread is used for making gillnets in the United States, practically all 

 in the Caribbean area are hand-knitted of cotton thread, usually about No. 16. Light rope, 

 either hen^ or sisal, is used for the cork and ground lines. Floats are usually of local 

 light wood such as "bois flot". Gillnets are often treated with preservatives of local 

 origin both for their protection against rotting of the net and for dyeing the web to make 

 it less conspicuous in the water. Jarvis (1932) reports that in Puerto Rico, "gill nets 

 are usually treated with a tanning solution made from the bark or berries of the (mamaye) 



tree. nets treated in this solution have the brown appearance of webbing tanned 



with cutch and oak bark. On the southern coast (of Puerto Rico)>gillnets which had been 

 treated with a mixture of linseed oil and ultramarine blue were observed in several 

 localities. The web is made of heavier material here, cotton seine twine in the smaller 

 sizes and varied in color from sea blue to blue green. The water here is very clear". 



Gillnets may be fished in several ways. They may be drifted at the surface or 

 anchored at the surface or at any depth down to the bottom. They may be staked as a sort 

 of trap or they may be set as a run-around net. In this latter method, the net is set in 

 a circle around a spot where fish are believed to be present. By beating the water the 

 fish are frightened into the meshes. Since the success of gillnets is dependent upon the fish 

 not seeing the net, their use is most successful in turbid water or at night. 



At Trinidad, gill nets average 70 fathcms long by 3 l/2 fathoms deep but may be as 

 long as 150 fathoms. The head rope and foot rope are of No. 81 or 96 thread doubled. 

 The mesh size is about 2 inches stretched. They are operated from small pirogues and are 

 especially successful at night; a crew of two or three men is carried. 



In Lake Maracaibo gill nets are used very extensively. The nets are anchored in the 

 late afternoon and are hauled back in the early momjjig, Wien large schools of fish are 

 available, the fishermen combine all of their nets to form one large one, and vrith this 

 they circle the school and then frighten the fish into the net. Each net unit is about 20 

 fathoms long and 3 fathoms deep. Mesh is 3.2 to 4- inches stretched and the netting is 15- 

 thread cotton twine. Floats are of corkwood (madera de corcha) and those are placed about 

 every 30 inches sJ.ong the cork line. Sheet-lead sinkers weighing about 3 ounces each are 

 fastened about every 30 inches on the lead line. The nets are tanned with an extract made 

 from the bark of the red mangrove. When the nets are not in use, they are hung from dry- 

 ing racks which are constructed in the shallow water, 300 feet or so offshore. IJJhen the 

 nets are to be repaired or tanned, they are brouglrt, ashore. In fishing these nets, the 

 unit or "tren" is en5>loyed. Each tren coisists of a piragua of about 1.5 gross together 

 with 9 or 10 nets. 



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