FISHERY RESOURCES OP THE PHILIPPINES, I. 525 



Gill nets (fig. 4). — The gill net is next in importance to the various 

 kinds of seines. It is used chiefly in the herring fisheries, but in the 

 Philippines large numbers of other kinds of fishes can profitably be 

 taken by its means. This is especially true of the mullet, certain of the 

 pompano, such as the cassisung \^8comberoides toloo-parah (Ruppell)], 

 atoloy {Caranx hoops Cuv. et Val.), mataan {Caranx freeri Evermann 

 et Scale), and such fish as the various kinds of snappers, for example the 

 bitilla \_Lutianus fluviflamnia (Forskal)], alangot [Lutianus Uneatus 

 (Quoy et Gaimard)], and puhit [Nemipterus nemurus (Bleeker)]. 

 These nets may be set either at the surface or at the bottom (see figs. 4 

 and 5), dejjending upon the kind of fish one wishes to catch. In the 

 mullet fishery the nets are frequently allowed to drift with the current. 



An ordinary herring net, 15 to 20 fathoms long and 2 to 3 fathoms 

 deep, has a mesh varying from 2.25 to 2.75 inches. A herring 

 vessel of the Atlantic fishery usually carries eight to fifteen of these 

 nets with anchors and hangings. OfE the coast of Palawan I have caught 

 120 fishes of good size in a single 20-fathom gill net in one night. So 

 far as my ex23erience goes this has been found the most successful net 

 for use in the Philippines. The greatest drawback is the damage 

 inflicted by sharks (fig. 5). 



7S322 s 



