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dragging ; he counts up the grand total of individuals 

 destroyed by such a proceeding, and then reflects on the 

 enormous quantity represented by the wholesale destruc- 

 tion of so oft repeated a system among all maritime nations, 

 and then arrives at his conclusion as to the part man plays 

 in the depletion of fisheries, and if he knows too that the 

 shallow bottoms in proximity to the shore are the necessary 

 spawning places of many species, he can entertain no doubt 

 that the present methods of fishing are disastrous. 



Not being able to entertain any principle not sanctioned 

 by practice, let us next examine what in their essentials are 

 these fishing utensils used in different numbers and slight 

 variations of detail in nearly every country. They consist 

 of two bands of net, with a bag or sack of the same 

 material but of much closer texture, the borders or lower 

 ropes of the sack being provided with leads throughout 

 their length, to insure the sinking of the net, and on the 

 upper ropes are attached cork or other material of a 

 lighter specific gravity than water to cause them to float, by 

 this means keeping the nets vertical and the mouth of the 

 sack open. The net thus reaches the bottom of the sea, 

 and at the extremity of both bands there are attached 

 two cords, generally of great length, by which the apparatus 

 is dragged on shore by one or two boats, according to the 

 class to which it belongs. 



Hence it will be seen that these nets can only be used 

 on flat bottoms without stones or other obstacles to catch 

 them. The net in its passage roots up the vegetation 

 which grows in such places and hauls them to the surface 

 or on shore ; these are found entangled in the net in great 

 quantities, and with them during the spawning season of 

 those species which spawn along the shore one encounters 

 among the seaweed multitudes of eggs more or less 



