FROM YACHTS AND LARGE FISHING BOATS 311 



The seine is shot in a circle from the stern of the boat, which 

 rows round the spot where the shoal of fish is believed to be. 

 Sometimes two boats start together, going round the circum- 

 ference of the circle in opposite directions, each shooting 

 a. net, and, on meeting, bringing the ends together. Three 

 nets can be used, one acting as a stop net. If the circle to be 

 enclosed is very large, two or even more stop nets which 

 have been joined together are required. When the circle is 

 completed it is diminished by the removal of the stop nets and 

 the ends of the seines are brought together. The seine is then 

 slowly worked towards the shore if possible. 



The pilchards, &c. are removed by using what is called a 

 tuck seine inside the larger net. This net is ten fathoms 

 deep, and as its ends are brought together the lower portions 

 are raised under the fish, forcing them to come near the sur- 

 face, when they can be scooped out in baskets. Sometimes 

 on the Cornish coast so large a quantity of pilchards are en- 

 closed that they cannot all be removed from the nets in 

 one day. 



The ground seine, shore seine, or scringe is not quite so 

 deep as the common seine. It is usually shot from a boat 

 starting from the shore, and always drawn up on land. It is 

 not of great service except in those shallow waters where the 

 foot rope touches the bottom. Everything which is enclosed 

 and cannot pass through the meshes is caught, though maybe 

 the foot rope misses a few flat fish lying hidden in the sand. 

 The net, after being shot and both ends brought on shore, 

 should be dragged in gradually and evenly from both sides, 

 the men who are working it approaching one another until they 

 meet, when the bottom ropes can be laid side by side, with 

 the result that the bunt or centre of the net comes under the 

 fish which have been encircled by it. Of course, with surface- 

 swimming fish the scringe or ground seine need not touch the 



