19. FISHERIES 



Dr. J. L. McHugh 



Bureau of Commercial Fisheries 

 Washington, D. C. 



Fishing is one of the most primitive activities of modern man. 

 Since fishing first began many thousands of years ago, there has 

 been no substantial change in gear or methods. Today we still fish 

 with essentially the same devices that our early ancestors used, 

 the trap, the net, or the hook. Over the years, we have added var- 

 ious modifications, it is true, but these have merely served to 

 increase the efficiency of catching with the same old gears. The 

 major improvements have been power to allow boats to move more 

 quickly and range more widely, power to reduce the labor and in- 

 crease the speed of hauling nets or lines, and new materials to 

 prolong the life and increase the catching power of nets. The only 

 radical change has been the use of electricity for guiding fish, but 

 even this has not developed into an entirely new method, for it is 

 used in conjunction with net fishing. 



The ACT OF FISHING has two distinct phases. First, it is 

 necessary to locate the fish in sufficient quantity; second, to catch 

 them and bring them aboard. Both operations depend on a knowl- 

 edge of the habits of fish. Fixed gears rely on prior knowledge of 

 migration paths, vertical distribution, or reactions to barriers. 

 Moving nets rely on visual clues, like jumpers, "finners," bird 

 concentrations, or the tell-tale color of a school of fish near the 

 surface as seen from the crow's nest, but prior knowledge and 

 experience play an important part, too. Hook and line fishing 

 depends on the feeding habits of fish, and requires a knowledge 

 of their feeding habits, vertical distribution, and movements. 

 Various types of attractants, such as lights or disturbances of 

 various kinds, may be used in conjunction with conventional types 

 of gear. These depend on a knowledge of reactions to different 

 kinds of stimuli. An interesting method, once used to locate 

 schools of herring for seiners, employed a length of piano wire 

 with a weight at the end, suspended over a man's finger at the bow 

 of a slowly-moving boat. By feeling the vibrations caused by con- 

 tact of herring with the wire, an experienced man could judge 

 not only the size of the school, but its depth and direction of 

 movement as well. 



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