258 



MARINE PRODUCTS OF COMMERCE 



practically every area of the country, from Alaska to the Gulf of Mexico, from 

 Maine to California, as well as in the interior lake fisheries, and they account for 

 a wide variety of fish. 



It is interesting to note that approximately 65 per cent of all the fish caught in 

 the Great Lakes fishery is taken with gill nets and that these nets would cover 



{Courtesy R. J. Ederer Co.) 



Fig. 13-15. North Atlantic gill netter. Diesel powered vessels set long strings of sink gill 

 nets on the bottom, as shown, for cod, haddock and pollack. 



a distance of over 8,000 miles if joined together and stretched in a straight line. 



Anchor-Gill Nets. In the Great Lakes the anchor-gill net is the most common 

 type used. It is called "sink" or bottom net because it is sunk on the bottom, 

 anchor net because it is held in position with small anchors. The meshes vary from 

 1^-inch to 5/4-inch mesh and can be roughly divided into two general classifica- 

 tions: "chub nets" and "trout nets." Sea Isle cotton is used in the construction of 

 these nets because its greater strength permits finer sizes of twine to be used than 

 if regular cotton twines were employed. 



Sink-gill nets were first pioneered in the North Atlantic about 1918 by a few 

 Lake Michigan fishermen, who settled in Gloucester, Massachusetts. 



Drift-Gill Nets. Pelagic species of fish, such as mackerel, are caught in drift-gill 

 nets. These nets are somewhat like sink-gill nets because they are rectangular in 

 shape and are fished in strings. Because they float from the surface, suspended 



