PACIFIC COD FISHERIES. 53 
out the line, as fast as the vessel could steam, by means of two short 
sticks (a method followed by the Norwegians) in order to prevent 
the possibility of the hooks catching in a man’s flesh or clothing. 
An anchor and buoy was at each end of the trawl and it was set with 
the tide. 
After being down a couple of hours the vessel came up to the lee- 
ward buoy in order to haul against the tide. The buoy was first 
hauled in by hand. The buoy line was then slipped under the fingers 
of the net lifter, the engine started up, and the line reeled in at full 
speed. When the anchor appeared the machine was stopped, the 
anchor lifted inboard by hand, and the end of the trawl placed under 
the fingers and the machine started again. Of the crew, one man 
ran the engine, one stood along the rail just aft of the machine with 
a long-handled gaff, ready to gaff cod which might break loose from 
the hooks, another stood just back of the machine itself and shook 
as many of the fish off the hooks as he could, while two other men 
removed and killed the balance of the fish and coiled down the trawl 
as it came from the machine, and attended to other work. 
The vessel used for the experiment was not well suited to the pur- 
pose, owing to its slow response to the rudder—a serious handicap, as 
it is necessary for the vessel to be kept well over the line at all times 
and thus relieve it as much as possible from strain—and the high free- 
board, owing to which a number of fish were lost because of their 
weight causing them to break loose while traversing this long dis- 
tance; but despite this the experiment indicated clearly the value of 
the machine in hauling trawl lines from the deck of a suitable vessel. 
As experienced fishermen were not available for carrying on 
power trawling from the deck of the vessel, the crew trawled by hand 
from dories during the rest of the season and met with good success. 
In operating from dories the trawls were rigged in the same manner 
as on board the Vega. 
Gill netting—In the summer of 1913 the author carried on some 
experiments in gill netting for cod in the waters adjacent to Pirate 
Cove, in the Shumagin Islands, Alaska. No originality is claimed 
for this method, as for a number of years gill netting for cod has 
been carried on in Ipswich Bay, Mass., and at a few other places 
along the New England coast, while about three years ago some of 
the Great Lakes fishermen visited Gloucester with their steam tugs 
and engaged in gill netting for cod, haddock, and pollock on a large 
scale. For a number of years the Great Lakes fishermen have carried 
on in those waters important gill-net fisheries for lake herring, trout, 
and whitefish. Steam tugs have been almost universally employed, 
and from 5 to 10 miles of netting set at one time. The use of this 
immense quantity of netting was made feasible by the employment 
86497°—17——29 
