THE COD AND COD-—FISHERY 307 
In many cases the merchants and traders own traps, and 
the crew operating the trap take, as their share, one-half 
or three-quarters of the first caught. Some traders give 
even four-fifths of the catch to the planter who works the 
trap for them. But the latter is expected to turn in all the 
fish he catches to the man who supplies the net, and to 
purchase all his stores from him also. That is, he will be 
really paid in kind, and a balance due him will be carried 
over on the books more often than paid in cash. This, 
however, has changed for the better in late years, and the 
payment of cash balances is becoming more common year 
by year. 
When the fish is actually landed on the stages, it is still 
far from becoming cash, and it runs all sorts of risks and 
dangers before it gets to market. Originally all Labrador 
fish went to St. John’s for exportation; to-day much of it 
is exported direct. We have as yet no cold-storage traffic. 
The fish is cured systematically. A table with notches 
in suitable places is fixed in a covered stage running out 
over the sea. To this a removable front with supports is 
added each spring after the ice goes, and taken in during the 
autumn. A shoot on the right hand of the splitter through 
this temporary part of the stage carries the offal, consisting 
of the head and entrails, into the water below. The boat 
ties to the front of the stage, and the fish are picked up with 
“pews” and thrown upon the pounds built up on the top. 
One person, usually a woman or child, picks up the fish 
and puts them on the table to the right of the “header” 
and the ‘“‘throater,’’ who stands on the side of the table 
near the sea. The throat is cut with one hand, while the 
other hand passes the carcass to the header, who tears off 
