284 APPARATUS FOR FISHING. 



We have mentioned that these drift-nets all have corks 

 along the upper edge in order to keep that part of the net 

 uppermost, at the same time with not sufficient buoyant 

 power to float them. The reason for this last is that the 

 herrings do not always keep at the surface or at the same 

 distance below it. The nets have therefore to be sunk to 

 various depths at different times, and it requires considerable 

 experience in the fishery to enable the fishermen to judge 

 of the most suitable depth on any particular night. The 

 various conditions which guide the fishermen on this point 

 would take up too much space to fully consider, but the 

 result of their judgment in the matter is of the first 

 importance, as it is a question of success or failure in the 

 night's fishing. It is consequently the frequent practice of 

 the fishermen to haul in the first of the nets, after they have 

 been in the water for a time, to see in which part of the 

 depth of the net most fish have been meshed, and to raise 

 or lower the nets in the water as may seem most desirable. 

 The nets are kept at the desired distance from the surface 

 by means of buoys or small kegs, which for some reason are 

 called "bowls," one of these being fastened by a long or 

 short rope, as the case may be, to each net in the train, so 

 that the nets can be allowed to sink to any reasonable 

 distance that may be desired ; and in order to secure the 

 nets from loss, in case they should be cut through by some 

 passing vessel or steamer, a long warp or stout rope is used 

 to which each net is made fast by what is called a " seizing " 

 a small rope long enough to allow the warp to hang 

 down considerably below the upper edge of the nets, and 

 to take almost all the direct strain off the nets when they 

 come to be hauled in. The fishing boats used in drift- 

 fishing vary in size from those employed in the Yarmouth 

 fishery decked vessels of 36 tons to the small open 



