CLXXX REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



the country at large and in special States, on the methods of culture 

 and on the benefits of artificial means in increasing the supply and in 

 stopping the depletion of natural beds. 



IMPROVEMENTS IN FISHING VESSELS. 



The tendency on the part of New England vessel-owners to adopt 

 only modern types in adding to their fleets has steadily increased, 

 until at the present time very few vessels intended for the offshore fish- 

 eries are constructed on the old lines. In the last report of the divi- 

 sion attention was drawn to the advantages which have accrued to the 

 fisheries through the iutroduction of the new forms of vessels. Per- 

 sonal inquiries recently addressed to fishermen in the principal ports 

 confirm all the claims that have been made and show that the new ves- 

 sels are yearly coming more into use and favor. From numerous avail- 

 able records of the practical value of the improvements, the following 

 example, quoted from the Gloucester Daily Times of April 4, 1892, may 

 be given : 



Schooner Nannie C. Bohlin, from tlie banks, Sunday, reports a most thrilling expe- 

 rience. On the morning of March 12, at about daylight, while bowling along by the 

 wind, under full sail, with the usual watch on deck, a sudden squall arose. Capt. 

 Bohlin was just coming on deck, and was standing in the companiou-way, when a 

 fierce gust from the northwest threw the vessel down. The captain managed to 

 reach the deck. The man at the wheel, with great presence of mind, threw the 

 wheel down, although both he and the wheel were submerged. He then rushed for 

 the starboard side of the vessel and hung out over the stern, which was almost under 

 water. One other of the crew also hung over the side and escaped being washed 

 overboard. The crew in the forecastle were soon on deck (those in the cabin were 

 unable to get out), and one of them rushed forward and let go the head sails. The 

 vessel soon came up. It was a narrow escape, and had the Bohlin not been an extra 

 good craft and the squall abated somewhat, she might have filled and sunk. The 

 vessel had lain flat in the water, her sails half under. One of her crew walked 

 along her side from the wheel box to the fore rigging, so flat did she Ue. The bait 

 boards were torn off the house and two of the dories floated oft" by the water. 



Commenting on this incident, Forest and Stream of the same date 

 makes the following statement : 



The importance of the recent improvements in the fishing vessels of New Eng- 

 land, due to the precept and example of the U. S. Fish Commission, though generally 

 acknowledged, has never been more strongly exemplified than in the recent occur- 

 rence, the particulars of which are stated in the Gloucester Times of April 4. The 

 Nannie C. Bohlin is one of the deep schooners and something like the Fredonia 

 designed by the late Mr. Burgess, and has before this occasion demonstrated in the 

 highest degree her special fitness for the business in which she engaged, so far as 

 both saaworthiness and speed are concerned. It is evident to anyone at all familiar 

 with naval architecture and the peculiar peril in which she was placed that had 

 she been as shallow aa the vessels in common use in the New England fisheries a 

 few years ago none of her crew would ever have returned to tell of their experience. 



