234 SEA FISHERIES 



first case the effort is great, but the result rewards the 

 fisherman for his effort for muscular fatigue, dangers 

 endured, and capital invested. In the second the effort is 

 reduced to the minimum possible ; what is of more im- 

 portance is the judicious organisation of the work of 

 capture. In the third case the effort is increased and 

 expenses are higher. These three categories are known 

 as the categories of drag-nets (trawl, seine, gangui) ; drift- 

 nets or fixed nets (herring-nets, Norwegian herring-nets, 

 trap-nets, stake-nets, basket-traps, &c.) ; and fishing lines 

 (cod lines, haddock lines, conger lines, &c.). The drift- 

 nets take the most fish ; the lines the fewest. But we 

 must remember that drift-nets catch such fish as unite in 

 enormous shoals, such as herring and sardines. 



The specialisation of fishing gear is not extreme. One 

 species of fish may be caught in many ways. The 

 mackerel is sometimes taken with a drift-net, sometimes 

 with lines, sometimes with the otter-trawl. The drift- 

 net, the beam-trawl (from the end of December to Feb- 

 ruary) and the seine are all used with success in taking 

 the herring. The sardine becomes " meshed " in drift- 

 nets and surrounded by seines. The plaice and the 

 flounder are taken by line as well as by the trawl. The 

 cod is taken with the trawl, the line, and by traps. In 

 short, the gear is apparently less adapted to the fish than 

 to the habits of the fisherman. The same remark is true 

 of the small fishing boats, which are adapted primarily to 

 local nautical necessities ; they are, in a sense, shaped 

 thereby, and depend very little upon the kind of gear 

 employed. Trawlers, on the other hand, drifters, line 

 trawlers, and even herring boats but more particularly 

 trawlers are differentiated by and adapted to a particular 

 function ; their tonnage, their lines, and their motive 

 power give them a relative independence of movement, 



