310 MODERN SEA FISHING 



themselves, that is to say, they push their heads through a 

 mesh beyond the gills and are unable to withdraw them. 



The seine or scan is probably the oldest form of net used, 

 and, it has been suggested, was introduced into Cornwall by 

 the Phoenicians when trading with the West-country folk in 

 the days before Moses existed. There are, broadly speaking, 

 three descriptions of seine nets : (i) the common or deep 

 water seine, (2) the tuck seine, and (3) the ground seine, foot 

 seine, or scringe. 



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PREPARING TO SHOOT A DEEP-WATER SEINE (PENZANCE) 



Every seine consists of a wall of netting the centre portion 

 of which is called the bunt, and is considerably deeper than 

 at the sides, which are termed sleeves or wings. Like the drift 

 nets, this wall of netting is buoyed along the upper edge and 

 weighted beneath so that it retains a vertical position in the 

 water. As in the case of the common seine it does not reach 

 to the bottom, it is only of service in deep water in capturing 

 surface-swimming fish, and a large number of pilchards are 

 caught off the coasts of Cornwall by its assistance, where there 

 is no suitable shore up which the net can be dragged. 



