CH. V] THE SEA-FISHERIES 107 



quarter, and one from a boom rigged out over each side. The 

 half-decked boats, nobbies, or by whatever name they are called, 

 are very often very pretty and substantial little vessels capable of 

 standing quite hard weather. Great care is often exercised over 

 their design and construction, for they are used not only for fishing, 

 but also for racing and pleasure sailing. On many parts of the 

 British coasts an open boat is used for trawling. Sometimes the 

 trawl is worked from a cart, and the motive force is in this case 

 derived from a horse which wades in the water up to its middle. 

 The cart usually drags two shank nets. One sees this amphibious 

 apparatus about the Southport shore, but in few other localities. 

 All kinds of fish are caught by the trawl net. Even herring, 

 which are pelagic fishes, are often taken in numbers by the trawl, 

 though this is an instrument which fishes on the sea bottom as 

 a normal procedure. In shooting the otter trawl of the steam 

 vessels the net is dragged through the water for a short time 

 while the ship steams slowly ahead. If then the net is shot 

 among a shoal of herrings or other pelagic fish the latter are 

 meshed and caught. Lately this method of working the otter 

 trawl has been used by the Fleetwood trawlers who happened to 

 be on their usual fishing grounds while herring were in the 

 neighbourhood. But with this exception the fish caught by the 

 trawlers are such as live at, or near to, the sea bottom. The 

 steam trawlers on the east coast of Britain catch vast quantities 

 of haddock and indeed this fish appears to be their mainstay. 

 Within the North Sea the principal fishes caught by the steam 

 trawlers are cod, haddock and plaice, and then follow whiting, 

 skates and rays and a host of other fishes in less abundance such 

 as dabs, lemon soles, witches, gurnards, coalfish and many others. 

 Outside the limits of the North Sea cod form the principal fish 

 caught by the steam trawlers of the east coast ports and then 

 follow haddock and plaice. Steam trawlers from the west coast 

 fishing ports (Fleetwood, Milford and Liverpool) do not fish in the 

 North Sea but in the sea to the south and west of Ireland, on the 

 west coast of Scotland, and at times in Icelandic waters. Deep water 

 is fi:'equented, and we find that the hake, which is a fish living on 

 the deeper fishing grounds, is the most abundant fish in the 

 catches made by these vessels. The smacks are of necessity 



