12 THE BRITISH FISH TRADE. 



Such are the chief modes by which bottom fish are 

 caught. Surface fish, it has aheady been stated, are mostly 

 taken either by the seine or the drift net. The seine-net — 

 a net by which the fish are encompassed, and either drawn 

 up on to the shore, or " tucked " into the boat in mid 

 ocean — is probably the oldest movable net used by man. 

 It is largely employed by the Americans in mackerel 

 fishing ; but, except in the pilchard fishery of Cornwall, in 

 the herring fishery of south-western Scotland, and in the 

 salmon fishery, it is not extensively employed in this 

 country. The drift net — a net which floats in the passage 

 of the fish, and in which the fish are caught by enmeshing 

 themselves — is the engine by which the herrings and 

 mackerel are chiefly taken. A first-class boat, fishing for 

 herrings, will carry a drift net or fleet of drift nets nearly 

 two miles long. It is computed that the Scotch herring 

 nets alone would stretch four times across the Atlantic 

 from Liverpool to New York. 



Drift nets were originally made of hemp ; in Ireland and 

 the Isle of Man they were till lately made of flax ; they 

 are now almost universally made of cotton. The greater 

 lightness of the cotton has enabled the fishermen to extend 

 the length of the net, and, in consequence, the efficiency of 

 the engine. But the labour of hauling in even a cotton net 

 two miles long is enormous ; and to facilitate the work, 

 many of the best boats have of late years been provided 

 with small auxiliary steam engines. It seems possible 

 that, when these engines are brought into more general 

 use, it will be found convenient to supplement the boats 

 with an auxiliary screw ; and thus the whole fishing trade 

 may, in consequence, be ultimately carried on, under 

 certain conditions, by steam vessels. This revolution, how- 

 ever, is not yet accomplished. Excepting a few steam 



