318 REMARKS ON TRAWLING. 
elm, though occasionally itis in a single piece, and has a diameter 
varying from 10 inches to a foot. The shape of the iron trawl- 
head is scarcely altered, the posterior iron plate in a few being 
somewhat more abrupt than in 1884, thus conforming to the English 
type of trawl. The height of the beam from the ground varies 
from 3 feet 8 inches to about 4 feet. The “ Athole,” one of the 
General Steam Fishing Company’s ships, is at present provided 
with an “otter” trawl with gigantic wooden ends about 12 feet 
long by 5 feet broad, which takes the place of the ‘hammer ”’ of 
the pole-trawl described by the Commissioners of 1868,* and which 
are simply the much enlarged wooden ends in use in the otter- 
trawls in the Forth in 1858. These huge wooden (door-like) ends 
have on one side in front two powerful iron bars meeting to form a 
V, and supported by two accessory stays, the whole forming a pro- 
jecting apparatus to which the chain connected with the warp is 
fixed. Towards the rear a perforated iron plate gives passage to 
two chains (one from each of the powerful iron bars above mentioned) 
for the attachment of the swivel for the trawl-net. The lower edge 
of the wooden end is weighted anteriorly with a heavy bar of iron, 
which occupies nearly half the length of the apparatus. A special 
and powerful rectangular frame of wood, with a top snatch-block, 
is fixed at the port-bow and taffrail for hoisting the ends on board ; 
and they form a striking feature from a distance, as—with the 
boards—they project 6 or 7 feet above the bulwarks. The foregoing 
trawl is said to capture cod more freely than the beam-trawl, as 
many as 20 score having been secured in April. It is, however, 
still on its trial, having only been introduced about six months ago. 
It was formerly pointed out that, when the iron trawl-head was 
dislodged, great difficulty was experienced in repairing it—especially 
in rough weather. The new trawls at Aberdeen have a broad band 
of iron, which bends round the end of the beam, and on which the 
loop of the trawl-head goes. It is secured by an iron pin and safe. 
This sheath protects the end of the beam, and must save much time 
at sea. At Granton the ends of the trawls are guarded by flat iron 
plates, but they do not form a loop over the ends. The trawl-heads 
are secured by a pin, as already mentioned. In the finest ships the 
length of the trawl-net is about 118 feet, and the arrangement is as 
follows :—For the first 56 feet next the beam the mesh of the net is 
58 inches from knot to knot; the next 88 feet has at first a 24-inch 
mesh, diminishing to 2 inches towards the posterior end, while 
for 24 feet the bag or ‘“cod”-end of the trawl-net has 
13-inch mesh. At Montrose the trawl-net consists of 44 feet of 
83-inch mesh next the beam, then 44 feet ranging from 24 inches 
* Report, Sea Fisheries of the United Kingdom, vol. i, Appendix, p. 38. 
