REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 31 



small seines could be used to such good advantage larger hauls could 

 be made with purse seines and a fare secured in a much shorter time 

 than by trawling or hand-lining. The schooner in question arrived 

 home from the trip on June 23, 1904, with 203,000 pounds of salted 

 pollock and 37,000 pounds of salted cod. 



In the spring of 1905 two Gloucester vessels, the schooners Emma 

 K. W/'therell and Tattler, which are among the largest m the fleet, 

 were fitted out for purse-seine cod-fishing. They sailed April 6, went 

 to the Sable Island ground, and made (puck fares. The former vessel 

 arrived home June 26 with 263,600 pounds of salted pollock and 20,000 

 pounds of salted cod; and the latter arrived July 1 with 363,325 pounds 

 of salted pollock and 11,000 pounds of salted cod. These fares were 

 made in three to five weeks of actual fishing, a much shorter time than 

 in the regular fishery, in which the vessels sail in February or March 

 and are seldom home by July 1, and furthermore the quantities of fish 

 caught were equal to or in excess of the fares of any vessels in the 

 ordinary salt cod fishery. 



The seines used in this new venture were 170 to 200 fathoms long 

 and 12 fathoms deep, with a 4-inch mesh throughout. The method of 

 fishing was the same as in the mackerel fishery. The fish were caught 

 in water from 1 to 25 fathoms deep. The captains state that the seine 

 can be used to advantage only in taking cod and other ground fish in 

 shallow waters, such as those about Sable Island and at certain places 

 on the Labrador coast and around the island of Anticosti, and not on 

 the fishing banks in general; while pollock, which school near the sur- 

 face, can of course be fished for wherever seen, without regard to the 

 depthof the water. With reference to the size of the hauls, it is reported 

 that 50,000 pounds were sometimes taken at one lift, and that a Nova 

 Scotia vessel, the only other vessel thus far engaged in this fishery, at 

 one set inclosed what was estimated to be 100,000 pounds, and came 

 near losing her seine and boat as the fish settled; the purse line had 

 to be cut and the fish allowed to escape, it being impossible to handle 

 them. 



While it is too soon to state the probable effect of the inauguration 

 of purse seining on the prosecution of the salt cod fishery, it is believed 

 that the method will be continued, that more vessels will engage in it, 

 and that large fares of cod and pollock will be brought to our ports 

 from grounds not hitherto exploited by American fishermen. 



Seine-jnirxhxj mae/ii-rn .—Pursing machines have been in use for 

 several years, and, having given satisfaction, have been adopted by 

 nearly every vessel in the mackerel-seining fleet. Previous to their 

 introduction the work of '""pursing up" occupied from thirty to forty 

 minutes and required the united efforts of the L5 men in the boat's 

 crew. With one of these machines 6 men now can do the work in less 

 than half that time and much more easily. 



