20 APPARATUS. 



DRIFT NET. 



Drift nets are used in the mackerel, herring, 

 pilchard, and other fisheries, the only material 

 difference in them being in their size, number, 

 and depth of nets, and the size of the mesh, the 

 number of nets being generally regulated by the 

 size of the boat or the means of the owner ; about 

 eighteen to twenty-five is the usual number. The 

 nets are from eighteen to twenty fathoms long 

 each and seven fathoms in depth, and a string of 

 driving nets are from half a mile to a mile in 

 length. These nets are attached to one another 

 end to end, and to a headline, along which runs 

 a row of corks j another rope is run loosely 

 through the middle of the nets, to afford additional 

 strength, but the nets are never weighted with 

 lead at the bottom. These nets are usually carried 

 in boats from seven to twenty-five tons. Fishing 

 commences just before sunset, and, about two 

 hours after, the nets are drawn, so as to be shot 

 again just before morning. The nets are fastened 

 to the boat's quarter by a rope from the end of 

 them, and they are left to float about with the 



