THE AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM MAGAZINE. 



171 



Experiences and Impressions of a Collecting Trip 



on a Trawler. 



By 



Akthik a. Livinustoxe. 



[It is rarel}- that a museum is afforded opportunities of securniy unlimited sup- 

 plies of deep-sea fauna. In this respect the State Trawling Industry has been the 

 means b}' which we are able to carry out one of the most important factors of our 

 work- For this great privilege we owe our thanks to the recommendations of Mr. 

 E- B. Harkness, Under Secretary, Chief Secretary's Department of New South 

 Wales, who at all times has fully appreciated the importance of a museum's work in 

 this direction.] 



M 



OST of us are aware tliat theie is 

 a trawling industry. l^ut just 

 how the tisb begins its journey 

 from the sea to the table, few of us have 

 any clear idea. It was my good for- 

 tune to learn this from actual experi- 

 ence with the fisher- folk upon the salt 

 sea. My five days' collecting trip on the 

 State Trawler "Goonambee" was .so in- 

 teresting and delightful that I would 

 tell the tale to others. 



But first a few words about the build 

 and ari'angenient of the ship. It is 

 substantially built in such a wa.y as to 

 resist the buffeting of the heaviest seas. 

 Comfort is not studied in the construc- 

 tion of such a vessel, but it can venture 

 out in any weather, which is more tlian 

 can be said of many larger passenger 

 steamers. The usual gross tonnage of a 

 trawler is two hundred and nineteen, 

 and the length one hundred and twenty- 

 six feet, with a beam of twenty-six feet. 

 At a pinch a speed of eleven knots can 

 be attained. They have a high bow; 

 their decks slope down amidships and 

 rise again at the stern, and the draught 

 is shallower for'ard than aft. Most of 

 the centre is occupied by a sort of ar- 

 moured citadel for the engines, the ca- 

 bins of the skipper, the mate, and the 

 chief engineer, and lastly the gallej-. 

 The crew number twelve. In the for'ard 

 hold is stored the fishing gear, imme- 

 diately aft of which is the fish hold, w'ith 

 its ice store and fish wells. Adjoining 

 this again are the coal bunkers, follow- 

 ed by the engine-room. Right aft and 

 behind tiie engine-room is a consider- 

 able space, utilised mainly as a food 



store and dining-room for the crew 

 wlien tile weather does not permit them 

 taking their meals above deck. 'there 

 are two masts, the aftermost of whicli 

 is provided with a boom supporting a 

 sail, which is used only when the wind 

 is favourable. 



On the completion of coaling opera- 

 tions at noon, Sydney Heads were soon 

 left Ijehind, and once upon the open sea, 

 one l)egan to feel the heave and fall of 



A rope is tied around the cod-end and this 



is hoisted inboard. As it hangs dripp.ng 



over the weU-deck for'ard, a greased rope at 



the bottom is quickly drawn. 



I'lioto. — H. (). Fletelici-. 



