THE SEA FISHERIES OF EASTERN NORTH AMERICA. 121 



the outer mesh and strike against the liner central net, carrying a fold 

 of it through the large mesh of the net in the opposite side, and thus be- 

 come pocketed. 



The simplest of all nets, perhaps, is the gill-net, which is a webbing 

 of usually very fine twine, made to float either from the surface or car- 

 ried to the bottom. The iish, unaware of its presence, or careless in re- 

 gard to it, in swimming against it jjass the head and shoulders through 

 the mesh and become entangled and held until removed, or until de- 

 voured by some predaceous fish or invertebrate. No mode of fishing is 

 more economical than this, as the capital required is comparatively light. 

 The nets can be managed by a few persons, and it is only the large fish 

 that are taken, the smaller ones passing readily through the meshes. 



The stake net will be found described in the report of the U. S. Fish 

 Commission. It comes more properly under the head of weirs and 

 pounds. 



The beam -trawl. — The beam-trawl is not used in America for the capt- 

 ure of fish, although it has been a favorite piece of apparatus with the 

 U. S. Fish Commission for capturing specimens of various kinds of 

 fishes and other marine objects. It is, however, extremely probable 

 that at no distant day it may come into use and our fisheries be prose- 

 cuted to a very considerable degree by its aid, although hardly to such 

 an extent as it is employed around Great Britain and off the coasts of 

 France, Holland, and Belgium. 



It is essentially a large bag-net, the mouth of which is low and broad, 

 and which is dragged along the bottom behind a vessel of suitable di- 

 mensions. This is kept in shape by means of a beam of wood resting 

 at either end on iron runners, which hold it up at the proper distance 

 from the ground and receive the friction of the bottom. As these run- 

 ners are connected above to the beam, at the lower end they are united 

 by a leaded rope, which constitutes the lower edge of the bag. This 

 leaded line is very slack and forms a bend reaching nearly half way the 

 length of the net, which is usually twice as long as it is broad and ends 

 in a long, narrow apex. As it is drawn along the bottom with the tide, 

 the fish, which usually are found lying with their heads towards the tide, 

 are first dislodged by the lead line, and whether they head upward or 

 forward, are met by the upper side of the net, extending behind the 

 beam. By the continual motion of the trawl they are ultimately carried 

 back to the opposite end of the net, and there, getting into the pockets, 

 are prevented from returning. 



The size of the beam varies considerably. By an old British enact- 

 ment the beam was not to exceed 36 feet in length ; but it is sometimes 

 now made nearly 50. The length of the net for a 3G-foot beam would 

 be about 70 feet, and one for a 50-foot beam would be about 100 feet 

 long. The net is made with meshes of suitable size, and is usually 

 saved from abrasion on its under surface or posterior end by folds of 

 old netting. 



