THE FISHERMEN 253 



The wage system is in general more advantageous to 

 the fisherman. Take the share of a Newfoundlander in 

 the product of a season of seven or eight months : it may 

 amount to ^40, or 48 to ^50, if the season is good. 

 From this, however, we must deduct the expenses of his 

 kit : boots, flannel waistcoats, oilskins ; so that a sheer 

 gain of only 28 to ^36 is left. The system of shares 

 has the aspect of a regular co-operative society ; but the 

 two contracting parties are not on a footing of equality 

 except in the payment of general expenses. General 

 expenses ! The masters are pleasant and charitable folk, 

 and extremely obliging ; they take endless trouble to 

 equip the vessel worthily ; unfortunately, what they give 

 with one hand they take back with the other ! 



At Boulogne the fisherman " on shares " does not 

 make a net gain of more than ^36 to ^48 a year, while 

 the wage-earner makes an average of ^72, and obtains 

 his food as well. He is hardly ever idle ; the intervals 

 separating the two different kinds of fishery in different 

 seas are always very brief. The movements of the 

 Boulonnaise fleet, counting entries and departures, are 

 represented by 40,000 to 45,000 vessels, and a tonnage 

 of more than ij millions. The large sailing vessels go 

 out for a fortnight ; the small steamers for a day or two ; 

 the trawlers for ten or twelve days ; only the vessels 

 fishing the Iceland banks stay at sea a full month. 



It is evident that the wage system will spread in direct 

 proportion to the development of the fishing industry ; 

 but it will always be necessary to pay the crew bonuses 

 in proportion to the catch and to pay the captain a fair 

 percentage. A good skipper means a good boat ; it is 

 cheaper to pay well for ten active men than to obtain 

 twenty dawdlers at a bargain. There must be no waste 

 on board, and the catch must be as large as possible. 



