212 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [24] 
not hauled into the dory by the man in the bow, but are kept over the 
side until they, as they are carried along by the ground line, reach the 
other end of the boat, and are there freed either of poor bait or of fish. 
The bait is easily shaken off by striking the hook against the gunwale of 
the boat, but the fish are not as easily managed. The large size of the 
fish necessitates the use of something besides the fishing hooks for pull- 
ing them into the dory. Accordingly, large iron barbless hooks, with 
a loop on the end away from the hook for the hand to grasp, are used 
for this purpose. 
But the fish must also be killed or stunned before taken into the boat, 
or otherwise considerable inconvenience, to say nothing of danger, might 
be occasioned by their lively flapping. Jor this reason killers are used. 
The “killer,” which is also employed for unhooking the fish, is a hard- 
wood club, about 24 feet long. The larger or striking end is round, while 
the other, or handle part, is flattened a little and has a notched end. 
When the fish comes to the stern of the dory, the fisherman hooks 
him in the eye, or some firm part of the head, with the large iron hook, 
and, after stunning him by hitting him several heavy blows over the 
snout with the killer, hauls him into the boat. Frequently the fish has 
swallowed the hook, and its extraction, were it not for the killer, would 
be a problem involving much catting and loss of time. The flattened 
and notched end of this instrument is run down the gullet of the fish 
and, after the line is secured to the other end so as to prevent slipping, 
the club is turned until, by the coiling of the line, the hollow of the hook 
fits into the notched end. Then, by a sudden push downward and a 
jerk upward, the hook is loosened and hauled out. 
The work continues on in this manner, the man in the bow doing the 
hauling, while his mate attends to the coiling of the line, shaking off old 
bait, and taking the fish into the boat, until either the boat is full, or else« 
all the trawl is hauled. In the latter case a return is made to the vessel. 
Should, however, the boat be filled before the hauling is completed, and 
any of the fishermen be through with the hauling of their trawls, an 
oar is raised as a signal for a dory to come and take the fish already 
caught, that the hauling may be interrupted as little as possible. If, 
on the other hand, all of the fishermen are busy when the boat-load is 
secured, the ground line is buoyed at the end of one of the 50-fathom 
pieces, while the load is carried to the vessel. Relieved of their load, 
the men return to the buoy they have just left and continue the hauling. 
Sometimes the trawl is caught in the rocks, so that it is necessary to 
break it and commence at the inside buoy for the hauling of the re- 
mainder. Should it be caught and broken the second time, there is 
great danger of losing the part that is still in the water, unless it can be 
caught by the grapple. The grapple is a chain with an iron bar at one 
end and having, at several places along its length, circles of iron points, 
three or four inches long, directed away from the end to which the bar 
is attached. It is used in the following manner: Three men go in the 
