FISHING INDUSTRY OP THE GBEAT LAKES 559 



reason this type of net is usually floated above the bottom. The 

 vertical position of the gill-net gangs in Lake Erie varies from day 

 to day — at times they are high, then on the bottom, according as 

 the fish rise or drop. Relatively few of the bull nets are of larger 

 mesh than 3 inches. 



The practice of floating nets has been followed by European fisher- 

 men for many years, and the method was employed in the taking of 

 herring, presumably by immigrants from Europe, on the western end 

 of Lake Superior and also at certain points on the Canadian shore 

 of Lake Erie long before 1900. The herring fisheries here, however, 

 had not attained much importance, and the method was therefore 

 little advertised, so that it remained for the American fishermen on 

 Lake Erie to invent it anew. It is said that a fisherman at the 

 eastern end of the lake by accident rearrived at the idea of floating 

 nets about 1902, when a part of his gang, which had become entangled 

 in the buoy line and was therefore suspended between the surface 

 and the bottom, made a good catch of fish. At present the idea, on 

 account of its usefulness in Lake Erie, has spread to other lakes, and 

 even trap nets are floated in certain localities at certain seasons. 



ORGANIZATION 



Only two men are required to operate pound and trap nets, and 

 the labor of lifting such nets is soon performed. 



The personnel in the gill-net industry is differentiated into two 

 classes — the '4ake hands" and the ''shore hands." The larger boats 

 carry six or seven men — a licensed pilot, a licensed engineer, a fire- 

 man, and a crew of three or four men, who must be trained in the 

 fishing industry. When fishing is heavy an additional man may be 

 added to the crew. The pilot determines where the nets are to be 

 set and is responsible for the boat in general; the engineer and fireman 

 run the engine; and the crew lift and set the nets, remove the fish 

 from the netting, dress them, and when the nets are brought ashore 

 put them on the reels to dry. The engineer and fireman are exempt 

 from duties other than those pertaining to their machinery, except 

 that the fireman often is expected to help with the reeling. 



The boats leave port at any time from 2 to 6 a. m., and usually 

 return (depending on the length of the cruise) in the afternoon, but 

 sometimes not until late at night. In any case, the nets must be 

 spread on the reels before the men's work is ended. When the weather 

 interferes with lifting the nets the boat crew has a holiday, but if 

 there have been two such holidays in a week the following Sunday 

 usually is reckoned a working day. The lake hands are laid off when 

 the fishing season is over. 



The nets are mended and put in readiness to set again by the shore 

 hands, who, unlike the boat workers, have regular working hours. 

 In the winter, when the boats do not fish, these men are kept em- 

 ployed in making new nets or more carefully repairing the old ones. 

 The shore hands may properly be called skilled labor, and experience 

 gives them an amazing dexterity in handling netting. 



The laborer usually is given a definite wage, except on Lake Erie, 

 where the boats often fish " on shares." Where such an arrangement 

 exists no wages are paid to the lake hands, but the catch of a boat is 

 sold to the company owning it and the proceeds are divided. The 



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