366 INTERNATIONAL LAWS FOR THE 



of the crew "lean them up," which means, fasten them 

 together, and stow them in the net room. In a codder 

 the crew will have to " thorough-foot " the lines, which is 

 to take out the kinks which always exist in new lines, 

 hitch on the hooks, which the apprentices in some cases 

 have to whip on to the snoods. This class of vessel has 

 also her bait to get on board, either whelks, herrings, clams, 

 or sometimes sprats. The lines are then coiled away in 

 the flaskets or trays, as the case may be, ready for the 

 apprentices to bait. 



At sea. The vessel can now proceed to sea, for there are no 



Herring custom house formalities to be gone through as in the 

 case of a ship. So long as her port letters and fishery 

 number are painted on properly she is free to go. The 

 master will then set the watches, or leave it in some cases 

 to mutual agreement, as there are many more difficulties in 

 the way of keeping regular watches on board fishing vessels- 

 than there are in sailing ships, such as attention to the 

 fishing gear, as well as the navigation of the vessel, the 

 frequent return to and leaving of port, and, in some cases, 

 the getting out of cargo. The boy as a rule is cook ; if a 

 novice then under the superintendence of possibly the mate 

 or some other of the crew, as it is generally considered 

 the duty of the master to navigate the vessel to and from 

 the fishing ground, though when this is a long distance he 

 is relieved by the mate. When the master has seen the 

 gear duly shot and the vessel made snug, it is his turn for 

 turning in, to be called at a certain time to haul the gear, 

 or under certain special circumstances. The first few nets 

 nearest the stem of the vessel are termed the " look on " 

 nets, as whenever it is thought proper, the watch, on a fine 

 night, will haul the boat up to them and haul them in to 

 see whether the fish are on the move or not. If there are 



