OF THE GRIMSBY TRAWL FISHERY. 425 
Shrimp-seine or Horse-net.—In addition to the shove-net, there is in 
use along the south shore of the Humber, and along the Lincoln- 
shire coast generally, a still more abominable engine, variously 
known as a shrimp-seine or horse-net. This is nothing more or 
less than a trawl of shrimp-mesh, with a mouth 18 feet wide, kept 
open by a pole. ‘T'wo short wooden beams, heavily loaded at the 
lower end, serve to keep the wings upright, and to separate the 
head and ground ropes. The whole affair is attached by bridles 
to the axletree of a small one-horse trolley driven by the fisher- 
man. 
The net is worked over the same ground as the shove-net, and 
only differs from the latter in its greater catching power and de- 
structiveness to small fish. ‘ Jehu ”’ has to attend to his horse, and 
can spare no attention for sorting purposes. Consequently, when 
the net is cleared, the whole contents are shot into a fish-box and 
there remain until the fishing is over. It need hardly be said that 
capture in this case means destruction. 
‘‘Flat-fish nets.”—A ‘‘ flat-fish net” is a piece of net, of a mesh 
about equal to that used for herrings, twenty yards long by a yard 
wide, corked at the top, and leaded at the bottom. ‘The ends are 
kept upright by short beams, and the whole is dragged along the 
margin by a couple of men, keeping at a regular distance apart from 
each other. Such a net is occasionally used at Cleethorpes. It is 
designed for the capture of plaice, flounders, and any soles that 
may be near the margin, and is hauled by the men walking ashore. 
As it is preferably used on a rising tide, only the marketable 
flat-fish are destroyed, as any smaller ones are left to squatter down 
into the wet sand, and are soon covered by the tide. Of course 
all the plaice taken, and most of the soles, are immature. 
Seining.—Seining is practised in the Humber for smelts and eels, 
but a good many flat-fish are of course caught, and those above 
about 6 inches are taken. As in the case of the last net mentioned, 
the smaller ones suffer no injury, the tide soon coming to their 
relief. The mesh is smaller than that of the “ flat-fish net,” being 
about 4 inch between each knot. 
Stake-nets, of the same mesh as the seines, are erected at Clee- 
thorpes and Humberstone in the winter for the capture of sprats. 
The fishery is a very uncertain one, so that the length of time the 
nets remain up is variable. It appears to be found most convenient 
to empty the whole catch into baskets or barrels, and cart them 
home before sorting. In this way a few small flat-fish and a great 
number of small whiting and cod are destroyed, as well as, in the 
early part of the season at least, a quantity of unsaleable sprats and 
young herring, locally termed ‘scad.’? The owner of the nets 
