FISHING GEAR AND FISHING METHODS 269 



Seven or eight lines, approximately 225 feet long, fastened end to end, constitute 

 a skate, about 1600 feet long. Gangions, which are lines 5 or 6 feet long with a 

 hook at the free end, are attached to the main Une every 9 feet. Frozen herring is 

 used as bait. Twelve to fourteen dories, 1 or 2 men in each, set out about a mile 

 apart on arrival at the fishing grounds and cover an estimated 36 square miles or 

 more daily. 



In recent years a sizable number of halibut fishermen on the West Coast have 

 changed from the usual hemp trawl lines to stainless steel wire. Diiring 1949, 







Fig. 13-28. Illustrating trawl line, hand operated and set from dory. 



when there was an estimated 14,500 skates of halibut gear in operation, replace- 

 ments during the season approximated about one-third the total, due to hang-ups, 

 deterioration, etc. This annual expense, together with the rising cost of gear, 

 necessitated the use of wire lines. It has been found that the use of wire requires 

 fewer men to work the same amount of gear, that there is less frequent replace- 

 ment, and that the gear is more easily recovered if hung-up on the bottom. The 

 use of wire also permits the boats to cover a wider area since the gangions are 

 detachable and can be spaced farther apart with little efi'ort. 



These lines are %4- or %2-inch diameter, "non-kinking" stainless steel of 3 X 7 

 construction for the ground and buoy lines respectively, while the gangions are of 

 single strand wire varying in length with the height of the vessel's rail. Gangions 

 are attached to the ground line by means of a stainless steel snap of sufficient size 

 to fit a man's hand, which prevents the wire from cutting him. 



The variabihty of hook spacing at any desired distance by simply snapping the 

 gangions onto the ground line and the speed at which the gear can be paid out 

 and hauled back are important features of this new rig. Each skate of wire hue is 

 approximately 200 fathoms in length. Reels have been developed for this fishery 

 holding 1200 fathoms of wire each— in 200 fathom skates— with proper linkage 

 between the separate skates of line. Such a reel weighs only 80 pounds fully 

 loaded, so that a vessel carrying 10 reels can run 60 skates of gear with a total 



