INTRODUCTION. 17 



Seine-netting is rarely used on our coast, except 

 for Garfish, Whitebait, or Smelts. 



A form of fishing practised principally on the shores 

 of the Blackwater, by which large numbers of Codling, 

 Mullett, and other fish are sometimes caught, is known 

 as " petering," or " peter-netting." A peter-net con- 

 sists of a net about twenty fathoms long and ten feet 

 wide, with corks on the head-rope and leads on the 

 ground rope. The head-rope is brought over the 

 ground-rope by folding the net longitudinally, and then 

 fixing it there by lashings about three feet long. To 

 use the peter-net, a boat is rowed at high tide to some 

 suitable place on the shore. One end of the net is 

 then cast over in from six to thirty feet of water, 

 having an anchor attached, and a buoy to mark the 

 spot. The boat is rowed parallel to the shore, 

 and the net is payed out so that its open part is 

 towards the beach. When the end is reached another 

 anchor and buoy is attached and thrown over, as at 

 the opposite extremity. The fishermen now row about 

 between the net and the shore, trailing a piece of chain 

 or something of that kind, in order to startle the fish, 

 who, in their endeavours to reach deeper water, run 

 into the net. When sufficient splashing about has 

 been made, one end of the net is drawn up, and 

 traction being made on the ground- and head-ropes, 

 the mouth is closed. The captive fish are then 



