THE BRITISH FISH TRADE. ii 



the ancients used. The Grimsby smacks employed in this 

 trade are the largest and most costly vessels employed in 

 fishing. The " fleet " of lines which each boat places at the 

 bottom of the sea is about seven or eight miles long ; and 

 each " fleet " contains from about 4000 to 5000 hooks. It 

 will be readily understood that the mere task of baiting 

 these hooks involves an enormous amount of labour ; and 

 that the work of supplying bait forms of itself a consider- 

 able industry. The growing scarcity of mussels, which 

 form the best and most convenient bait, and the irksome toil 

 inseparable from baiting the long lines, are perhaps slowly 

 tending to supersede this mode of fishing with trawling. 

 A trawl net is a stout purse-like net, with a wide mouth at 

 one end, tapering almost to a point at the other end. The 

 mouth of the net is kept open by the upper portion of it 

 being attached to a heavy beam of wood, which is sup- 

 ported at either end by two heavy iron sledge-like con- 

 trivances. The lower portion of the net lies at the bottom 

 of the sea. The beam of the largest trawl nets is 50 feet 

 in length ; and the great fish markets of the kingdom are 

 dependent for a large portion of their supplies of fish on 

 the operations of the trawlers. The fish caught in the 

 trawl are usually dying or dead when they are drawn on 

 to the deck of the vessel. The fish caught by the lines, on 

 the contrary, are generally alive. The line smacks, there- 

 fore, are usually fitted with wells or chambers into which 

 the sea water is admitted, and the fish are brought in these 

 wells alive to land. There, many of the cod are kept 

 either in chests or cases anchored in the sea ; or more 

 simply, though more cruelly, are tied together by the tails, 

 and kept in salt water till they are required for the market. 

 Then they are drawn up, killed, and sold as live cod — 

 killed, as the technical phrase runs, " to save their lives." 



