THIRTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 227 
TOTAL AMOUNT OF FISH LANDED FROM GILL-NETS DURING THE MONTHS 
OCTOBER, NOVEMBER, AND DECEMBER, 1883, AND JANUARY, FEBRUARY, 
MARCH, AND APRIL, 1884, FROM THE NOTE BOOKS OF CAPT. S. J. MARTIN, 
GLOUCESTER, MASS. 
| 
MONTH COD. POLLOCK.|HADDOCK,  HAKE. CUSK. | GRAND 
=f ; No. of lbs. | No. of lbs. | No. of lbs. | No. of lbs. | No. of Ibs. | TOTAL. 
OCTOBER, 1883, 35,500 573,000 45,000 36,000 30,000 719.500 
NOVEMBER, *‘ 1,275,500 185,000 249,000 20,300 9,000 1,738,800 
DECEMBER, “‘ 1,373,000 3.000 264,000 | 15,000 1,655,000 
JANUARY, 1884, 932.000 40.000 972.000 
FEBRUARY, ‘ 923,000 75,000 998,000 
MARCH, us 1.248,000 1,248,000 
APRIL, a 705,000 705,000 
TOTAL, - | 6,492.000 761,000 673,000 56,300 54,000 8,036,300 
Sk a IN A NY TAI ITS ee 
An important matter for consideration in connection with the 
cod gill-net fishery, is that not only can fishing be successfully 
carried on even when bait is not obtainable (for of course no 
bait is required when nets are used), but there is a very great 
saving of money and time that must be expended in procuring 
the bait and baiting the lines when hook and line fishing is fol- 
lowed. As an instance of the expense involved, it may be stated 
that the average bait bill of a shore trawler is not, under ordin- 
ary circumstances, less than from $150 to $250 per month, 
when herring are as high as they usually are in winter. It is 
therefore, safe to estimate that when as many vessels are 
employed in gill-netting as there has been during the past two 
winters, the-money saved to the fishermen, which otherwise must 
have been paid for bait, could not be less than from $30,000 to 
$70,000 each season. Besides this, a very large percentage of 
the time is saved, as has been stated, that otherwise must have 
been lost in seeking for bait. 
In pursuing the cod gill-net fishery, fishermen have been to 
some extent, handicapped by the rotting of their nets, and in 
some cases—more especially in the fall when the waters are 
filled with animal life—the nets have decayed very rapidly so 
that they have been found quite unfitted for use after being in 
the water for five or six weeks. While at Gloucester, last fall, I 
had this matter brought to my attention by fishermen, who were 
anxious to obtain some preservative which would prevent their 
nets from rotting. I addressed a letter to Professor Baird on 
the subject, and the result was that the matter having been 
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