THE SEA FISHERIES OF EASTERN NORTH AMERICA. 121 
the outer mesh and strike against the finer central net, carrying a fold 
of it through the large mesh of the net in the opposite side, and thus be- 
come pocketed. 
- The simplest of all nets, perhaps, is the gill-net, which is a webbing 
of usually very fine twine, made to float either from the surface or car- 
ried to the bottom. The fish, unaware of its presence, or careless in re- 
gard to it, in swimming against it pass the head and shoulders through 
the mesh and become entangled and held until removed, or until de- 
voured by some predaceous fish or invertebrate. No mode of fishing is 
more economical than this, as the capital required is comparatively light. 
The nets can be managed by a few persons, and it*is only the large fish 
that are taken, the smaller ones passing readily through the meshes. 
- The stake net will be found described in the report of the U. S. Fish 
Commission. It comes more properly under the head of weirs and 
pounds. 
The beam-trawl!.—The beam-trawl is not used in America for the capt- 
ure of fish, although it has been a favorite piece of apparatus with the 
U.S. Fish Commission for capturing specimens of various kinds of 
fishes and other marine objects. It is, however, extremely probable 
that at no distant day it may come into use and our fisheries be prose- 
cuted to a very considerable degree by its aid, although hardly to such_ 
an extent as it is employed around Great Britain and off the coasts of 
France, Holland, and Belgium. 
It is essentially a large bag-net, the mouth of which is low and broad, 
and which is dragged along the bottom behind a vessel of suitable di- 
mensions. This is kept in shape by means of a beam of wocd resting 
at either end on iron runners, which hold it up at the proper distance 
from the ground and receive the friction of the bottom. As these run- 
ners are connected above to the beam, at the lower end they are united 
by a leaded rope, which constitutes the lower edge cf the bag. This 
leaded line is very slack and forms a bend reaching nearly half way the 
length of the net, which is usually twice as long as it is broad and ends 
in a long, narrowapex. As it is drawn along the bettom with the tide, 
the fish, which usually are found lying with their heads towards the tide, 
are first dislodged by the lead line, and whether they head upward or 
forward, are met by the upper side of the net, extending behind the 
beam. By the continual motion of the trawl they are ultimately carried 
back to the opposite end of the net, and there, getting into the pockets, 
are prevented from returning. 
The size of the beam varies considerably. By an old British enact- 
ment the beam was not to exceed 36 feet in length; but it is sometimes 
- now made nearly 50. The length of the net for a 36-foot beam would 
be about 70 feet, and one for a 50-foot beam would be about 100 feet 
long. The net is made with meshes of suitable size, and is usually 
saved from abrasion on its under surface or posterior end by folds of 
old netting. . 
