236 SEA FISHERIES 



held open by a beam. It is less adaptable and less handy 

 than the otter-trawl, is not so large, and is consequently 

 less productive. In France it is employed only by the 

 small sailing trawlers or smacks. This trawl presents 

 local modifications, such as the chalut a patin (skate 

 trawl, in which the iron stirrups which hold the beam 

 to which the upper edge of the net is attached off the 

 bottom are replaced by irons shaped like an old-fashioned 

 skate-iron), the chalut a pierre, &c. The beam-trawl as 

 used in France is a conical bag 65 feet long by 16 feet 

 wide ; but the English beam-trawl, still in general use, 

 has a beam of 40, 70, and even 90 feet. The pocket 

 is of finer mesh, and the upper and lower surfaces of 

 the net are laced together, except for a passage in the 

 centre, which has a valve or flap of netting, which pre- 

 vents the escape of the fish netted. The pocket being of 

 much finer mesh, even the side " traps " are kept inflated 

 by the pressure of the water. The lower surface of the 

 net, edged with an old rope bound round with smaller 

 cord (old so that it will snap sooner than the warp if 

 caught upon rocks) is cut back in a V, so that the bottom 

 fish are already entrapped on both sides when disturbed. 

 The pocket is laced by a removable cord at the extremity ; 

 when hanging over the deck from the hoisting tackle 

 this cord is removed and the contents of the pocket fall 

 on the deck. 



The net known in France as the filet-bceuf (ox-net 

 or ox-trawl), or the grand-gangui, consists of a conical 

 pocket preceded by two lateral wings. The pocket is 

 about 90 feet long. From the front it presents four 

 convex edges upper, lower, and lateral and this por- 

 tion is made of cords, which determine the curves of 

 these faces, and of meshes of hemp fastened to these 

 cords. The upper face is fitted with a string-buoy of 



