FISHERIES 



hfA, no tlint if it bfl rotnniril to the np.n Virfnrn it suffers iiny prn- 

 liinnc'l cx|M)-<iini to till' iiir, ilfvi'li'|iiiiiMit will proici'il iiiiinircntly 

 Ulirlli'i'Ui'il. riiosi' N|u'ciiiii'ii.s, iihli'i'il, whitli Uliiliiwi'lit ilrvi'lnii- 

 ini'iit ill Miy [i(iM.si>H»iMM, li 111 nut mily liri'ii ivinovi'il frmii tlie gnmiiil, 

 but liiiil liirii kr\i\ I'lir many liom-D in it Hoaiity Hiiinily of wiitcr lie- 

 full' I it'icivcd thiMii ; mid ovcii iiftiT llu'y iniiii' nmlfr my inw, 

 till",' were iiwisiiiiily liliu'i'il in iiiiulitioiiH vi'iy (liH't'imt from tliosi' 

 til wliicli lliey wiiulil Imvi' Umhi cxihwiI if they hml liecn allownl lo 

 nnmin in tlicir natural hiliit.il, - uii4 yet, with all tlieMe ilisailviiii- 

 tage.s, iluvelolimeiit iiroeeeileil uiiinterriilitiMlly." 



lUqistralion ./ J'tshiiuj Kassc/s. — Under the Sen Fisheripa Act 

 18ii8i all vessels and boatH (!nK»K'''l i" lishiiig for tlie piirpoHe of wile 

 nuiHt he registered at the custom-liimse, hihI must be marked on the 

 bow with letters duuutiiig the port to which they lielong, and tlirir 

 registered mimlfer. 'I'hus, Orinishy is represented hy the letters 

 O V, I'eterlieiid by P D, and (lalwiiy by O. The lishiiig boats are 

 divided into three classes, — the lirst class iiielnding everything of 

 15 tons and upwards, the second class nil boats under 15 tons 

 navigated otherwise than by oars only, that is, sometiinis by sailn 

 and .siini times by oars, and the lli nl class those with which oars 

 only are used. The last class is supposed to include only small 

 boats used for liarbour lishiiig ;' but as there are very lew boats in 

 which a sjiil of some kind is not sometimes hoisted, the customs 

 liave a discretionary power to put very small boats into the 

 third class, notwithstanding tiieir occasional use of a sail. The 

 registers for each (sirt are sent to tlio rc^'istrar-general of shijiping, 

 and apix'ar iu the annual returns piiblishid by the Hoard of I'rade. 

 There is great dilHculty, however, in obtaining precise accuracy in 

 the returns for many parts of the coast; new boats sonu'tinies escape 

 registration, and boats which have been lost or broken up sonie- 

 tinicH remain for a year or so on the list. lUlt, imperfect as these 

 returns undoubtedly are, they are of some value iu giving an 

 apprnxininte idea of the number of the Hsliing craft, and of the 

 average size of those in the liist class. It must be remembered, 

 however, that this cliwi includes l^ats rnnging from 15 tons to 

 70 iir 30 tons. The tendency now is to fish farther from the land 

 than formerly, atid to use decked instead of open boats; the result 

 is that there is a steady increase in the first class boats, and a 

 diminiithin in the number of tliu smaller ones. The following 

 table gives the total number of fishing boats in England, .Scot- 

 land, Ireland, and the Isle of Man on the register for 1876 end 

 1877, arranged according to their classes : — 



We .will now proceed to give an account of the several 

 valuable fisheries carried on around the coasts uf the British 

 Islands, with some details of the appliances in use, and the 

 manner in which they are worked. 



English Fisueries. — On the coast of England the 

 methods of fishing in general use are more numerous than 

 in the case of either Scotland or Ireland, the fishing grounds 

 are more extensive, and the total supply of fish obtained is 

 larger and more varied in kind. The principal modes of 

 fishing are by the boam-trawl, the drift-net, the sean, the 

 •tow-net, and lines. Their relative importance varies to 

 some extent, but trawling and drift-net fishing occupy by 

 far the most conspicuous positions, and lines come next in 

 order. 



Trawlintf. — The most characteristic mode of fishing is 

 that known in England as " trawling," or in Scotland as 

 " beam-trawling," and consists in towing, trailing, or trawl- 

 ing a flattened bag-net, of">n 100 feet long, over tlie bottom 



' By a recent order in council all open fishing boats which do not 

 fish beyond three miles from land are exempted from registration. 

 This practically abolishes the tliird class which has hitherto appeared 

 in the returus. 



in such a manner as to catch those fish cspprially which 

 iiiituriilly keep chisu to or upon the gnunul. Jt is very 

 dusirable that the name " trawl " nIiouIiI bo rcstiicteil to 

 this nut, pruHuiitly tu bu described, ns niiich ciinfiHion ha.s 

 been caused by the practice, guiienil in Kcothiini (whiili has 

 ini.sled even such writers as Mr Couch, see Fishi-» of the 

 Itritish hlitnds, iv. 10.')), of applying the name to that very 

 ditferent kind of net which hiis for centtirius past beoii 

 almost universally known as the " sean," " seine," or 

 " seyne," and may be traced back through the Saxon seijne 

 to the Latin mujeiui, a sweep-net. In the United States 

 and Canada, the word " trawl " is still more niisa])plied, 

 buing given to what is iu England commonly called the 

 long line or bulter. 



The lieumtrawl may be simply described a.i a triangulor. 

 Hilt, purse-shaped net with the mouth u.xtBiiilcd by u horizoii- 

 tiil wooden beam, which is raised a short distance from the 

 ground by means of two iron frames or heads, one at each 

 end, the upper part of the mouth being fastened to the beam, 

 and the under portion dragging on the ground ns the net is 

 towed over the bottom. The beam of course varies in 

 length according to the size of the net, and depends to soma 

 extent also on the length and power of the vessel which 

 has to work it In the large "smacks," as the trawl-buuts 

 have long been called, the beam rungus from 36 to 50 feet 

 in length ; and there is rarely anything less than this now 

 used by the deep-sea trawlers. Elm is generally preferred 

 for it, selected if possible from timber grown just of the 

 proper thickness, that the natural strength of the wmii 

 may not be lessened by more trinmiing or chipping than ia 

 absolutely necessary. If the required length and thickness 

 cannot be obtained in one piece, two or even three pieces 

 are scarfed together, and the jnints secured by iron bands. 

 When the trawl is being hoisted in, the first part of the 

 apparatus taken on board is the large heavy beam, and 

 this is very commonly done when the vessel is rolling and 

 pitching about in a seaway. It is therefore necessary for 

 the sake of safety that the beam should be secured as soon 

 as possible, and in such a position as to be out of the way 

 and at the same time conveniently placed for lowering 

 again when required. All this may be easily efTected by 

 having the beam of such a length in proportion to the size 

 of the vessel that when hoisted up, one end of it may 

 come over the taffrail, with the iron head just clear outside-, 

 and the fore end in front of one of the shrouds. It then 

 lies on the gunwale of the vessel, and the ends are secuicd 

 by ropes, the foreriggiiig preventing that end of the beam 

 coming on board, but the iron head passing in between the 

 shrouds. The object or use of the beam is to extend the 

 mouth of the net ; but, in order to allow room for the fish 

 to enter, the beam, and with it the back of the net which 

 is laced to it, must be raised a certain distance from the 

 ground. For this purpose the beam is fastened at each 

 end to the top of an iron frame, shaped somewhat like an 

 irregularly formed stirrup, which is fitted to it at right 

 angbs by a square socket at the top. By these "heads or 

 irons" the beam is supported at a height of nearly 3 

 feet from the ground, and, contrary to the popular idea on 

 the subject, never touches the bottom. It could only do 

 so if the trawl were to reach the ground with its back 

 undermost, and then the mouth of the net would close and 

 no fish could enter. The lower part of the trawl-head or 

 iron is straight and flat, just like the corresponding [mrt o£ 

 a stirrup. It is called the " shoe," and is the part which 

 slides over the ground as the trawl-beam and following net 

 are towed along. There is a slight variation in the form 

 of the trawl irons, and one, known as the Barking pattern, 

 from having been adopted at that old trawling station on 

 the Thames, is shaped exactly like a stirrup ; but generally 

 the irons are preferred with the aft side straight. We 



