MACKEREL FISHING. 61 



jump heavily on tlie deck. If fisli are near, this disturbs 

 tliem, and they can be traced darting along far down 

 in the water by means of the phosphorescent light which 

 their movement causes in the small marine organisms. 

 This light is at times so brilliant, that it actually flashes 

 through the water, and is reflected onto the sails of the 

 boat. The phosphorescence is locally known as '' brim- 

 ing." 



Nets Made. — The drift nets are not made, or " bred^^ as 

 it is called, in Plymouth ; they are obtained chiefly from 

 Porthlevin, Bridport, St. Ives, and Scotland. They are 

 made of cotton, and are sent from the manufacturer 

 *' white." The fisherman then treats them in one or other 

 of the following- ways : 



Nets Prepared. — They are first steeped in a hot solution 

 of catechu for one to twelve hours, and dried by being 

 squeezed between two rollers (as in a mangle). They may 

 be steeped and then dried in this way three or four times. 

 They are then steeped in a hot solution of tar and dried in 

 the air. After going through the tarring process they may 

 be tanned in bark liquor as much as three or four times 

 before being used. This latter tanning process is gone 

 through once perhaps every two months, or even less, 

 according to the amount the nets are used. 



Mesh. — The sizes of the mesh of the different kinds of 

 nets used and their lengths, vary in different ports of the 

 west country. Unless, therefore, a port is specially men- 

 tioned in the following accounts of nets, they must be 

 considered as referring to Plymouth only. 



Mackerel Fishing. 



Time of Year. — Mackerel fishing is carried on nearly all 

 the year round, from January to June, and then again from 

 September to November. There may be an interval of eight 

 or nine weeks in the summer during which mackerel are not 

 caught, but often this time is reduced ; the late fishing, on 

 the other hand, may, instead of lasting three months, be 

 continued only two or three weeks. 



As a rule; but few fish are caught during May and June, 



