10 COD AND OTHER SALT FISH FOB THE MARKET. 



The fish are placed in the forward compartment first and kenched 

 from side to side of the vessel, not from fore to aft. When the 

 kench settles, additional fish are placed on top to keep the compart- 

 ment full. Two men who are especially good at salting are selected 

 for the work and are held responsible for the condition of the fish. 



The kenches are usually about 4 by 7 feet and the full height of 

 the hold. The salt is carried in compartments in such quantity that 

 when one is filled with fish the next is empty of salt. All of the fish 

 are salted on the Bank trips. The gurry or refuse is thrown over- 

 board, and the position of the boat is changed a few miles whenever 

 the ground becomes polluted. 



When the day's work is done, the fish dressed and in the hold, and 

 the deck scrubbed, the dories are hauled on board. 



DORY HAND-LINE FISHING. 



The vessels for the dory hand-line fishing usually start on the first 

 trip about April 1 and return in June. The crews consist of eighteen 

 to twenty-four men, with a dory for each man except the captain 

 and the cook. The dories used in hand-line fishing are smaller 

 than in the trawl fishing, the length being 13 feet. In hand-line 

 fishing clams obtained on the coast of Maine and slack salted are 

 used for bait. Only one baiting (75 to 125 barrels) is carried, and 

 if any more is required it is picked up on the ground; squid, clams 

 taken from the stomachs of fish, and hagdens may be used, as may any 

 fresh bait. 



The dory hand-line fishing is generally begun at the Western Bank, 

 but during the last few years the principal fishing ground has been 

 Quero Bank. On the late fall trip, about October 1, the vessels 

 frequently go to the Virgin Rocks on the north side of the Grand 

 Banks. The first trip is generally finished and the return made in 

 the latter part of June or July, while the return from the second trip 

 may be as late as November. 



When the vessel arrives on the fishing ground, the dories put off 

 in all directions, sometimes as far as 3 or 4 miles, each man for 

 himself. If one place is found in which the fish are particularly 

 plentiful, then a number of boats from the same vessel or from dif- 

 ferent vessels may come together and form a fleet. The fishing is 

 done at anchor. Each fisherman uses two lines and two hooks on a 

 line. The depth varies from 18 to 40 fathoms. The sinkers on the 

 hand line weigh 4 pounds. The jigger, a lead w r eight with hooks pro- 

 jecting from the sides, \s used until July 1. This can be employed 

 only in water less than 25 fathoms in depth. When the jigger is 

 used, only one line is thrown out as the operation consists in working 



