48 THE COMMERCIAL SEA FISHES OF 



below low-water mark at neap tides, the interstices between 

 the stakes are filled in with old nets. A similar line of 

 stakes and nets, from two hundred to six hundred yards 

 in length, passes from inside the mouth or entrance of 

 the pound in a direct line towards the shore. At high 

 water the whole is covered by the sea, and any fish, as 

 mackerel, passing along the shore, are stopped by the 

 long barrier, following which they are diverted in their 

 course into the pound. As the tide ebbs the fish are 

 readily removed. 



The trammel- or set-net, also termed tumbling-net in 

 Cornwall, likewise includes such nets as are fixed or 

 stationary when at work, and wherein fish are entangled in 

 the meshes. There are two descriptions of these nets in 

 use, which differ considerably one from the other. The 

 simple set-net, employed in Ireland and many portions of 

 the sea coast of the United Kingdom, is similar to a short 

 drift-net, which is shot in the direction of the tide, and 

 anchored and buoyed at each end at the desired spot, while 

 a few corks are fixed along the back rope, and the foot rope 

 is weighted. The mesh of the net is in accordance with 

 the species of fish it is desirous of taking, while it is set very 

 slack so as to enable the fish to be easily meshed. The 

 proper trammel-net is composed of three distinct pieces or 

 walls placed parallel one to the other, and fastened together 

 along the back rope above, the foot rope below, and the 

 head ropes at either end. The mesh in the two outer of 

 these nets are large, and correspond in size and position, 

 but the middle net has a much smaller mesh, and hangs 

 very loosely. The whole of these three walls are now set 

 or fixed by anchors in the direction of the tide, the back of 

 the net having corks attached to it, and a buoy at each 

 end, while the foot rope is weighted. A fish trying to push 



