56 NORTH SEA FISHERS AND FIGHTERS 



on rough ground the rope would be destroyed and the 

 net itself saved. 



The net would sometimes have a length of 100 

 ft, the meshes being of four different sizes, varying 

 from 4 in. square near the mouth to i| in. at 

 the cod-end. The net with a length of 100 ft. 

 would have a width of 50 ft. at the mouth, so 

 that there was an immense triangular bag towing 

 at the bottom of the sea, which, if it came across a 

 shoal of fish, would scoop a tremendous haul. It was 

 not uncommon for 3 tons of fish to be caught at a 

 time, and on the Dogger I have seen one of the old 

 beam-trawls so crammed with haddock that it could not 

 be hauled ; as a matter of fact, the net burst and the 

 dead haddock were as thick on the surface of the water 

 as an icefloe. 



The most interesting part of the beam-trawl net was 

 in the old days, as it is now, the cod-end, for here the 

 fish are found when the net is hoisted inboard and the 

 moment comes for the big-bag-knot to be unlashed and 

 the catch released. The cod-end is a narrow jail for 

 the fish, and once in it and in the pockets there is about 

 as little chance for the creatures to escape as there is 

 for a convict to get out of prison. It must be remem- 

 bered that the fish are swimming against the tide and 

 that the net is being towed with it, so that, the more 

 they try to escape, the smaller is their chance of freedom. 

 If, however, fish turn about and try to get away from 

 the enveloping meshes, they seek to do so by keeping 

 to the two edges or sides of the net. In this case they 

 are doomed, because then they swim into the pockets. 

 These pockets, two in number, are placed near the cod- 



