INTRODUCTION xxix 



of apparatus. The trammel net is a most attrac- 

 tive engine, which is, however, relatively un- 

 common. Three nets are fastened together at 

 top, bottom, and ends ; they are only a little 

 distance apart. This triple net is anchored to the 

 bottom, the foot being weighted, and the top or 

 " back " buoyed, so that it stands upright as a 

 vertical wall of netting. The peculiarity of the 

 trammel is that the middle member of the triple 

 net has a narrow mesh, while the two outer ones 

 have very wide meshes, and are so set that the 

 meshes are exactly opposite each other ; the 

 middle narrow-meshed net is longer and wider 

 than the two external ones, so that it is gathered 

 up in slack folds. When a fish strikes the net 

 it easily passes through the mesh of the outer 

 net, but, striking against the restricted mesh of 

 the middle net, it gathers this up and forces it 

 through the opposing mesh of the outside net 

 on the opposite side. The fish is thus in a pocket, 

 in which it is hopelessly " trammelled." 



The stake net is simply a vertical wall of 

 netting of variable length supported on wooden 

 stakes. It is set on the ground at low water, 

 and so arranged that the tidal stream runs through 

 it at right angles to its length ; at next low water 

 after it is set, it is visited and the enmeshed fish 

 removed. It has a number of forms. 



Fishing weirs are common on the coast of Wales, 

 and are an easy and safe (albeit destructive to 



