T1IE MACKEKEL PUKSE-SEINE FISHERY. 255 



Sometimes they toll the school alongside and spread the seine around the vessel, and after she 

 sails over the cork-rope and away to leeward, the net is pursed up and the fish captured. It is 

 often the case, too, when mackerel are moving rapidly, for the men in the dory to throw bait ahead 

 of the school, and while the fish are thus induced to stop, the seine-boat circles around them, the 

 net is thrown out and while yet engaged iu feeding, the fish are inclosed in the big purse. Many 

 good catches are obtained in this way. The favorite bait is slivered and salted menhaden, of which 

 each vessel carries 5 to 10 barrels when they can be procured. Most of the vessels, however, at 

 the present time, depend entirely upon small mackerel, which they catch and salt. The bait-mill, 

 bait boxes, and bait-throwers are similar to those used_in_the mackerel hook fishery, and are used 

 in the same manner. 



METHODS OF SEINING BY DAY. The following description of the method of seining mackerel 

 is mainly from the pen of Mr. J. P. Gordy : When a vessel is on the fishing grounds and there are no 

 signs offish, if the weather is favorable, a man is stationed at the mast-head on the lookout, while the 

 rest of the crew, excepting, of course, the man at the wheel, lounge lazily around, amusing them- 

 selves as they feel inclined. If a whale is seen blowing or a vessel is " putting out her boat," the 

 man at the wheel steers toward them. The skipper is usually on deck directing the evolutions of 

 the vessel, and is consulted before any change is made iu the course of the vessel. When signs of 

 fish begin to be numerous, and sea geese and gauuets are plenty, and whales and porpoises show 

 themselves frequently, the "fishy men" of the crew stop lounging and begin to survey the surface 

 of the water intently. At such times one can count half a dozen here and there in the rigging) 

 carefully observing the movements of other vessels, if any of the fleet are in sight. "There's 

 crooked actions, men," the skipper exclaims, meaning that some vessel in sight suddenly alters her 

 course, and that she is either on fish herself or sees another vessel that is. When one school ap- 

 pears, another is likely to be seen, and when a vessel has "crooked actions," those who observe 

 them bend their course in the direction in which she is sailing. When a man sees fish, he shouts, 

 " I see a school." "Where!" asks the captain. The direction is indicated. " How does it look ; 

 is it a good one?" He wants to know whether they are tinkers or whether the fish seem large. If 

 they are abundant he will wait until he gets a " sight" at a good school. Much attention is paid by the 

 lookouts to the mauuer in which the school of fish is moving. The seiners prefer those schools 

 which are "cart wheeling,"* or going round and round in circles in a compact body, in the act of 

 feeding. Fish which are " cart wheeling" can be surrounded with a seine much more readily than 

 those going straight ahead in one direction. 



If the man who has found the school is not experienced, the captain examines it for himself, 

 and if satisfied that it is a good one he shouts, " Get in the seine-boat ; look alive, boys." As a 

 pack of school-boys jump from an apple tree when the indignant owner appears, so eleven men 

 leap into the seiue-boat one over another, as if they had meant to jump overboard but by accident 

 had reached the seine-boat instead. The captain takes his place at the steering-oar. Two men sit 

 on the forward part of the seine and one at the cork-line, ready to " throw out the twine" when the 

 captain gives the word of command. The remaining seven row swiftly and silently until the fish 

 disappear or the captain orders them them to " stop rowing." All the while the captain is eagerly 

 watching the fish, noticing which way they move and how fast. Before beginning to put out his twine, 

 he wants to get near enough to enable him to make the wings of the seine meet around the school. 

 He must, therefore, keep far enough away to prevent the head of the school from striking the seine 

 until it is nearly pursed up. He calculates the speed of the fish, and sets the seine in such a nian- 

 mer that by the time the school gets thoroughly within the circle of the net he will be able to come 



"This habit of circling, which the mackerel performs, is also called "milliug" by the tishenuou. 



