q 
Sy a THE SPANISH MACKEREL. 409 
leader, while the other is set in the form of a square at the outer end, 
openings of three or four feet being left on either side of the leader to 
allow the fish to enter. The T-set, shown in Figure 7, somewhat re- 
sembles the one already described, the chief difference being that the 
ends of the outer net, instead of being bent at right angles, are turned 
inward to form a triangle at the outer extremity of the leader. In the 
third set, Figure 8, the two nets are so arranged as to form a harpoon, 
from which the set takes its name. 
The gill-nets of this region are worth from $90 to $100 apiece. They 
are about one hundred fathoms long and one hundred meshes deep, the 
size of the mesh varying from 34 to 4 inches. The men fish in “gangs,” 
one net being owned by the crew of each boat. The nets are set on the 
best fishing grounds at daybreak, and are left fér several hours, while 
their owners fish with hand-lines in the vicinity. The catch is divided 
equally, the share for a single net being sometimes as high as five hun- 
dred dollars for a season which lasts from six weeks to two months. 
Gill-nets were introduced into the Spanish mackerel fisheries of Chesa- 
peake Bay in 1877, and proving fairly successful, they soon came into 
general favor among the fishermen of the Eastern Shore, though they are 
even now seldom employed by those living on the opposite side. There 
are, at present, about 175 men engaged in “ gilling” for mackerel be- 
tween Crisfield, Md., and Occohannock Creek, which is 30 or 40 miles 
from the capes. The nets were at first set only in the night, but during 
1880 the fishermen of Tangier Island obtained the best results by fish- 
ing from the middle of the afternoon until midnight. The nets range 
from 75 to 100 fathoms in length, and have a similar mesh to those 
already mentioned. The catch varies considerably, as many as 500 
mackerel having been taken at one set, though the average is only 
20 to 40 daily to the net. 
The pound-net is now the principal apparatus for the capture of 
mackerel in all localities where the fishery is extensively prosecuted. 
According to Mr. R. B. Chalker, of Saybrook, Conn., pound-nets were 
first used in the fisheries of New England at Westbrook, Conn., in 1849, 
and from that locality they spread rapidly to other portions of the coast. 
_ They were first introduced at Sandy Hook, N. J., by Mr. George Sne- 
diker, of Gravesend, Long Island, about 1855. Mr. Snediker has prob- 
ably done more to develop the pound-net fisheries of the United States 
than any other man in the country. It was from him that the fishermen 
-of New Jersey, as well as those of Chesapeake and Delaware Bays, ob- 
tained their first idea of pound-nets, he being the first to introduce 
them unto the fisheries of each of these regions. He has also engaged 
in the pound-net fisheries of Albemarle Sound, though he cannot claim 
the credit of introducing the net into those waters. 
The first pounds fished in New Jersey were very small, and being placed 
along the inner shore of Sandy Hook, they were hardly a success, as the 
fish are much less abundant there than along the outer shore. The same 
