RIPORT OF COMMISSI"NER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [72] 



The "spiller" is ouly made of coarse twine, and though not entirely 

 exempt from the ravages of the dogfish and sharks, is rarely injured by 

 them ; and now when a large school of mackerel are caught iu a seine 

 the fish are turned into the bag, from which they are "bailed out" on 

 to the schooner's deck ouly as fast as they can be dressed, and in this 

 way it frequently happens that a lull fare may be secured from a single 

 set of the net. * * * 



The introduction of this simple net-bag will undoubtedly save to our 

 fishing fleet many thousands of dollars, even in this the first season of 

 its adoption. 



The "spiller" invented by Mr. Willard was simply a sheet of netting 

 540 meshes square, bound around with rope ; it is made of five sheets 

 of twine, each 180 meshes deep and 540 meshes long. These sheets are 

 laced together. This net, when in use, is suspended from its four cor- 

 ners to the side of the vessel and the outriggers, mentioned above, and 

 hangs homethiug like a hammock. From its shallowness, however, it 

 was not so well adapted for the purpose for which it was designed as 

 was the deeper bag-shaped net subsequently devised by Captain Mer- 

 chant, and which has been described above.* 



The mackerel pocket is hung to 1^-inch rope, and on the portion of 

 this which comes next to the vessel are strung egg-shaped wooden 

 floats. These are only for the purpose of securing the edge of the net- 

 bag firmly to the rail of the vessel. The border of the pocket being 

 drawn over the rail, a board is laid on top of it and held in position by 

 wooden pins passing through both board and rail, the net being thus 

 fastened between the two. 



To the outer edge of the mackerel pocket, either Williard's or Mer- 

 chant's, is attached a rope bridle, the ends of which are fastened at a 

 distance of about 9 feet from each outrigger; a thimble is seized into 

 the upper part of this bridle, and when the mackerel have been turned 

 into the pocket the fore and after staysail halliards are bent into this 

 thimble, and the outer edge of the pocket is supported thereby so as to 

 take as much strain as possible off the outriggers, which are only 4 

 inches iu diameter. The outer and upper corners of the "spiller" are 

 supported by ropes which run through single blocks attached to the 

 farther ends of the outriggers. By means of these ropes the outside 

 edge of the pocket may be raised or lowered. When a school of mack- 

 erel has been caught in the seine, the pocket is slacked down to the 

 surface of the water, and its outer edge having been fastened to the 



fisli by hauling the staysail underneath it, thinking that if they could thus prevent 

 the dogfish from seeing the mackerel inclosed in the net the Litter would not. lie 

 harmed. But this did not succeed fully, since the sail was badly bitten and much in- 

 jured by the dogfish, making this experiment a rather costly one.* 



*The "mackerel pockets" constructed by Capt. George Merchant, of Gloucester, 

 are 35 feet long, 30 feet deep, from 15 to 18 feet wide across the mouth; two-inch 

 mesh, and knit of 12-21 half-patent twine. 



