712 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



provement of the simple band-lioe. It has for a long time been almost 

 the only engine employed, and now it may safely be said that nearly 

 half of the vessels engaged in cod-fishiug are provided with this alone. 



In fishing by this method the Loffoden boats are equipped with six 

 men and a cabin-boy ; in Soudmore, as in other cases, with eight men. 

 The complete equipment, without counting that reserved for contingen- 

 cies, consists of six gangs (of four lines each), or 24 lines in all, each 

 line i^rovided with 120 hooks at a distance of four to six feet apart, and 

 mounted upon cords of hemp or cotton 15 to 20 inches long. The bait 

 employed is the herring when on hand ; but this is kept especially for 

 night fishing. They employ also, and above all for day fishing, the roe 

 remaining in the fish after spawning, or else ordinary roe. 



A setting consists of from 500 to 2,500 hooks, according to the abun- 

 dance of the fish; and at certain fixed hours the fishermen proceed to 

 set their trawls at very variable distances, from 7 to 12 miles at the 

 Loffoden Islands, and IS to 25 in Sondmore. The trawls are set in the 

 water according to the position of the cod, sometimes all on the bottom, 

 sometimes just under water in a depth of 40 to CO fathoms. They are 

 hauled up in the moruiug, a duty which generally falls upon the captain 

 of the vessel, assisted by some one to lift the fish into the boat and 

 detach them from the hooks. The product is variable ; and it may be 

 said of this method, as of simple line-fishing, that the fish do not bite 

 always equally. Trawling succeeds best in years when the fish are very 

 fat, as also at the commencement of the season before the fish have had 

 time to become thin, and during the spawning period, when they do 

 not bite at all. At these times fishermen rich enough to possess both 

 trawls and nets employ the latter. When the fish do bite the catch 

 may be very productive, and each gang (bac), containing 480 hooks, 

 may yield as much as 120 fish, which would amount to 720 co'd for a 

 vessel of six gangs, but in the event of so large a catch the boat is so 

 heavily laden that during rough weather it is found necessary to clean 

 the cod on the way and throw away the heads and entrails, keeping 

 only the marketable products — the body, liver, and roe. This, however, 

 is an exceptional case ; two hundred and eighty to three hundred and 

 fifty cod to a boat (40 to 50 a gang) is considered a good average. 



Besides the night settings, day-lines are sometimes used when the fish 

 bite well. These are generally put down just under water, but pro- 

 duce less than in the night, and can only be employed where the banks 

 are sufficiently near the coast. 



c. The gill-net is an engine of recent introduction, and as its use does 

 not extend back beyond 1GS5, it took a long time to come into general 

 eral use, though it is quite indispensable when the cod does not bite. 



A boat when complete carries six men and a boy. Each man has gen- 

 erally 10 nets, making 00 nets to a boat. These nets are from 18 to 20 

 fathoms long, 10 to 13 feet deep (25 to 60 meshes), and the meshes are 

 from 2.80 to 3.20 inches square. Formerly they were maintained verti- 



