272 



REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



[B] 



and 1,250,000 with deep bait.* The men and boats engaged were 

 divided as lollows: 



Method of fishing. 



Net fishing.'. 



Line fi.shing . . . . 

 Deep-bait tishin^fi 

 Hired men 



Total. 



Fisher- 

 men. 



13, 168 

 7, 258 

 2,297 

 3,311 



Crew.s. Boats. 



2,154 



1,689 



844 



23, 034 



4,687 



■*2, 430 



1,977 



t844 



* 269 of these also occasionally used lines. 1 701 of these used no lines, and 143 used lines. 



There was an increase from the year before of 2,542 in the number of 

 net fishermen, an increase of 417 in the number of deep-bait fishermen, 

 and a decrease of 1,504 in the number of line fishermen. 



Highest total sum earned by net fisherman $2l4 40 



Lowest total sum earned by net fisherman 48 24 



Highest total sum earned by line fisherman . 120 60 



Lowest total sum earned by line fisherman 32 16 



Highest total sum earned by deep-bait fisherman 85 76 



Lowest total sum earned by deep-bait fisherman 42 88 



The superiority of the nets over lines and trawls, as shown by the re- 

 spective earnings of the fishermen, has, as might be expected, led to an 

 additional increase in that branch of the fisherj', and in 1879 it is stated 

 that 2,532 boats, with crews numbering 14, 322 men, fitted out for the 

 net fishery. The larger amount earned by the net fishermen is due to 

 the better quality of fish taken by them more than to the increased 

 catch, though this is also generally obtained. It has been found that 

 the largest ahd fattest cod do not bite at the hook, but must be sought 

 after with gill-nets, and it therefore follows that netted fish furnish 

 a very superior article of merchandise, t It sometimes requires but 210 

 cod caught in a net against 360 taken on a hook to furnish the same 

 amount of liver (about 26A gallons), and the livers of the netted fish yield 

 much more oil to the gallon than those of the trawl or line fish. In con- 

 clusion, it may be added that pollock are taken in gill-nets as well as 

 cod. During the winter season large schools of these fish visit the 

 coast between the sixtieth and sixty-second parallels of latitude, and 

 in the summer and fall are found on the coasts of Nordland and Fin- 

 mark, where enormous quantities of them are taken by nets, trawls, 

 and hand-lines. 



2. — The Newfoundland fisheries. 



Gill-nets have long been used in the Newfoundland cod fisheries, es- 

 pecially on the east and south coasts of the island, but the exact date 



*' Trawls are i)robably meant by hues, and hand-lines by deep bait. 



t The same fact has been demonstrated by the use of nets on the American coast. 

 Both cod and pollock, of large size and extra qnality, are frequently taken in al)un- 

 tlance by nets when few or lioue cau be caught on hooks and lines. 



