

PROTECTION OF DEEP SEA FISHERIES. 375 



* 



running short, the master will send a letter to the owner 



by the carrier, who will send off to him by the same means 

 whatever is required ; or in the case of the carriers running 

 to London, then by the next vessel leaving the port to 

 join the same fleet. The voyage of a trawler, when single 

 boating on various parts of the coast, depends on the 

 catch of fish, the quantity of ice on board, and the weather, 

 and will vary from three days to a fortnight. The voyages 

 of drifters on various coasts are from one to six months, 

 but of course these vessels are frequently in and out of port, 

 as they, like single-boating trawlers, bring in their own 

 catches. It would be almost impossible for them to do 



therwise, except, as is sometimes done in the mackerel 

 fishing, when the catches are small ; then one boat will 

 bring in the catches of the others. A codder, if weather 



ermits, will generally remain away till the well wherein 

 the fish are kept alive is full ; or in the case of making 

 a salt-fish voyage, when all the fish caught are split 

 and salted, the vessel will perhaps remain away till it is 

 full. 



Having thus briefly described the principal portion of the Return to 



a doings of the vessels, the next thing to glance at will 

 be the return of the vessels to port to dispose of their fish. 

 In this, as in other branches of the trade, there is no 



meral rule, so a description of the various plans is desir- 

 ible. In Scotland herrings are sold by the cran measure, 

 which contains from 800 to 1000 herrings according to the 

 >ize of the fish ; but the boats here are nearly always hired, 

 perhaps nine or twelve months beforehand, by the curers, 

 who give a sum of money as a bounty, reaching in some 

 cases to nearly 50 for first-class boats. The curer then 

 agrees to take up to a stated quantity at a fixed price. 

 If the season is a good one, and the quantity agreed for 



