36 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



fisk get clear. Suffering from tlie lacerations of the Look, and fearful 

 of becoming again entrapped, tliey communicate their fears to their 

 sympathizing companions. It is very noticeable that since the trawls 

 have been used on om- grounds, the fish have been much more shy than 

 formerly, and that they struggle much harder when caught. Fre- 

 quently they are caught with the small hooks of trawl-lines still in their 

 mouths ; or, without hooks, bat with mouths still bleeding where torn 

 in escaping. The foregoing sentence is true of fully one-sixth of the fish ice 

 have ccnight since traicls were used on our grounds. 



Fourth. The hand-fisherman returns home each night and dresses 

 his fish on the land, the offal being used for manure. The trawler re- 

 mains at sea for days, and sometimes for weeks, even — remains until 

 his vessel is loaded. In cleaning the fish he throws overboard the offal, 

 which sinks to the bottom and there decays. This putrid matter drivos 

 the fish away so long as it remains. The trawler works frequently on 

 the tideward side of the grounds, so as to catch the fish as they come 

 in. Thus the offal is thrown over at places whence, as it is moved at 

 all by the tide, which is usually not very strong, it is swept slowly over 

 the whole fishing grounds, poisoning them for the time throughout their 

 entire extent. 



We further believe that trawl-fishing tends directly to injure the 

 hand-fisherman ,• to injure the markets for fish ; to injure the standard 

 of fish as an article of food ; and, eventually, to the great injury of all 

 concerned iu the business of catching cod, trawlers included, and for the 

 following reasons : 



■ First. These trawl-lines, stretched for miles on the fishing grounds, 

 and running in parallel lines as close together as is profitable, make a 

 barrier which, while in theory it only takes equal chances with hand- 

 fishermen, in fact monopolizes the ground to the irreimrable injury of 

 the man with a single hook ; for the trawl-hooks are placed so close to- 

 gether that comparatively few fish cross the line, being either caught or 

 deterred by the struggles of others captured ; and the trawlers can so 

 place theu" lines in succession or in parallels as to occupy all the most 

 desirable parts of the ground, one trawler requiring the space of one 

 hundred men with hand-lines. 



Second. Trawling, to be successful, requires larger boats and more ex- 

 pensive gear than are within the means of hand-fishermen. The boats 

 must be larger in order to carry the fish caught, and also in order to 

 better withstand the effects of storms ; for the trawler generally remains 

 all night at sea, while hand-fishermen return home every night. 



Third. Trawlers sometimes catch 8,000 or 10,000 pounds in one or two 

 days. They are unable to dress so many fish, as they sometimes catch, 

 which, not seldom, are^ greatly damaged before they can be taken to 

 market. So large a quantity will glut any available market, and the 

 fish often spoil before they can be sold. Cod become very cheap, and 

 the dealer is led to hold the fish on ice or in x)ickle in the hope of better 



