THE SEA FISHERIES OF EASTERN NORTH RMERICA. 119 



Captain Nathaniel Atwood, of Provincetown, while earnestly com- 

 batting the assertions in regard to the injurious effects of the trawl- 

 line upon the fisheries, admits that they do appear to have a positive 

 action on the abundance of the halibut, or at least those of the large in- 

 dividuals which are specially sought after for the market. He thinks 

 that these large halibut are quite likely each to occupy a considerable 

 area of ground, to the exclusion of others of the same species, and that 

 when they are caught, it takes a considerable time for their restoration. 

 He mentions a curious relation in the co-existence of halibut and had- 

 dock, the result of the capture of the halibut in the grounds conjointly 

 occupied by them, being a very marked increase of haddock, so much 

 so as to render them almost a drug in the market and reducing the price 

 very materially. This is due to the fact of haddock being devoured in 

 immense numbers by the halibut while present, and their consequent 

 increase when their enemies are captured.* 



I have already adverted to the fact that in the course of an extended 

 and exhaustive investigation by Professor Huxley and his associates 

 into the subject of the British sea' fisheries, contained in a Blue Book of 

 1400 pages and involving the answering of 61,830 questions, there 

 were but six witnesses of the entire number examined who made any 

 objections to trawl-lines. One fisherman alone (vol. 2, p. 554, question 

 24,996) considered it a destructive mode of fishing in itself, his objec- 

 tion being that by using very small hooks they caught too many young 

 fish, which, had they been allowed to grow up, would have furnished a 

 more profitable yield. 



One fisherman, in answer to questions 39,994 and 40,389, said he found 

 a difficulty in getting bait of the right kind with which to supply the 

 hooks, although approving of their use. 



To No. 40,976, a fisherman replied that the trammel nets, such as he 

 used, were liable to be torn by contact with the long-lines. Another 

 trammel-net fisherman, in answer to question 41,023, maintained that 

 the long-lines frightened the fish away from his net, so that he could 

 not get all that he expected. 



The net. — Having thus concluded the subject of line fishing, we come 

 to the second of our principal divisions, namely, that of the use of nets. 

 It is hardly necessary to go into any minute account of this mode of 



*Another instance of this mutual interdependence of fish, as asserted by the fisher- 

 men, occurs on the coast of Nova Scotia, in this case between the lobsters and the 

 stariishes. According to this the lobsters are destroyed by the starfishes in great 

 numbers, .and in the immediate vicinity of the canning establishments where the 

 lobsters are taken and put up there is found to be au appreciable diminution of them 

 from this cause. The starfishes are then said to multiply very greatly. The fisher- 

 men insist that the starfishes feed upon sea-weed, and that they devour this in such 

 quantities as to clear the bottom of this covert, and that the food-fishes findiug no 

 means of concealment do not resort to what were formerly excellent fishing-grounds. 

 The statement that starfish eat sea-weed is perhaps yet to be substantiated. 



