464 



APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN CATCHING FISH. 



Of these there are two important modifications : " Pound-nets " (in various 

 forms) for shallow-water fisheries, and "gill-nets" for deep-water. 



The pound- net essentially consists of a long net, the so-called " leader " pro- 

 jecting at right angles to the shore for from 300 to GOO yards, and supported by 

 strong stakes of the necessary length, 30 to t>0 feet, driven at an interval of 5 or 

 6 feet. The rim-line of the leader is secured to these at .the water-level, 

 white the bottom line is weighted with stone-sinkers. Fish swimming 

 towards the leader are diverted by it into the " heart," a A-shaped chamber, the 

 funnel-shaped narrow end of which projects into a " pot " or " crib " some 30 feet 

 square, the floor and walls of which are formed of net, the walls projecting two 

 feet above the water-level. The mesh of the leader is 6J to 7 J inches, of the 

 heart 3 to 5 inches, of the funnel 3, and of the pot frequently only 2 to 2J, to 

 the destruction of immense numbers of immature Whitefish. Beyond the first 

 crib a second leader, terminating in the same way, and a third indeed, as many 

 as twenty have been arranged in "strings," if the shallow ness of the water admit 

 of it. Lake Erie obviously permits of such destructive use of this kind of 

 apparatus more extensively than any of the other lakes, so that as many as 900 

 pounds exist on its American side. The average value of a pound-net is from 



POUND-NET. 



$250 to $500, and five men are required to wcrk three nets. A boat of peculiar 

 ormis generally used, schooner-rigged with wide square stern, and plenty of 

 beam so as to permit of lifting the pockets or cribs of the pound. They must be 

 able to take a large load of fish and yet have little draught. A special scow is 

 used for driving and pulling stakes, in the spring and winter respectively 



The Fyke-net is essentially a miniature pound, the crib bein<r replaced by two 

 funnels oi netting one opening into the other, and the heart by^winas leadinHo 

 the door of the outer funnel at an angle of 45 decrees They are used for 



