62 FISHING INDUSTRY OF T'LYMOUTH. 



but tbe supply and the time the fish arrive off the port vary 

 greatly each year. 



Boats. — Besides the boats of the port, boats whiuh hail 

 from other ports, and which land mackerel here during the 

 time of year when they are most plentifully caught in the 

 neighbourhood, may be estimated at 150 to 400. 



The ports from which they sail are as follows : 



East Country Boats. — Yarmouth, Lowestoft, Brighton, 

 Folkestone, Rye, and Newhaven. 



West Cmmtry Ports. — Looe, Mevagissey, Falmouth, Porth- 

 leven, Newlyn, Mousehole, Fowey, Penzance, and St. Ives. 



A few boats also come from Guernsey, Scotland, and 

 the Isle of Man. 



Nets. — The mackerel nets in use here are three fathoms 

 deep, and the mesh 1*44" to 1*38" across, or twenty-five to 

 twenty-six meshes to the yard. 



Cornwall boats fishing for mackerel off Scilly use nets with 

 a mesh of 1'44", or twenty-five meshes to the yard; but 

 many boats in other ports and some in Plymouth use nets 

 whose mesh is 1*3" across, or twenty-seven to the yard. 



Each boat shoots sixty to eighty nets of sixty yards each ; 

 tliat is to say, a '' fleet '^ of nets is two to three miles long. 



Nets " Shot." — The nets are buoyed by corks at intervals 

 of about a yard, and, because mackerel swim high in the 

 water when in shoals, the top or " back " of the net lies 

 nearly upon the surface of the sea. It is on account of the 

 mackerel nets lying so near the surface, and in consequence 

 of the great length of net " shot," that great losses are 

 experienced in this fishery. A sudden storm may almost 

 completely ruin a fleet of nets, and a steamer or vessel cuts 

 through them frequently. 



In order to be able to recover nets whicli have been so 

 cut through by vessels, a line, the " foot-line " by which 

 the nets are hauled in, is attached to each net, and hangs 

 six fathoms below them. This line, being 54 feet below the 

 surface, is well out of reach of any vessel's keel. 



Fishing Grounds. — The ground fished by boats bringing 

 their catch to this market may broadly be stated to be, the 

 whole extent of water from the coast between Start Point 



