METHODS OF FISHING 17 



The upper opening of the net was fastened to a beam (CD) of light 

 wood, such as the fir. To the extremities of the beams bridles 

 (CE, DE) were attached. The mouth of the net was kept open by 

 warps or ropes (AF, BH) running from the extremity of the weighted 

 foot -rope to a point from one-third to one-half the distance along 

 the bridles. - From the point of junction of the bridles a warp ran 

 to the vessel. The resemblance to the modern beam trawl is how 

 fairly close, except for the absence of tlie trawl-heads, which must 

 have made this net a rather awkward one to handle, even though 

 it was customary to fasten a large stone at the points A and B. 

 This net was used to capture flat-fish which were stirred up out of 

 the sand by the foot -rope. One method of fishing this net was to 

 sail out from the shore to a distance determined by the length of 

 the warp. The net was then shot and the vessel returned to the 

 shorCi the, net being subsequently hauled in in a slanting direction 

 so as to cover as much ground as possible. This net, though shaped 

 like a trawl, was fished like a seine. 



Still closer approximations to the modern beam trawl were in use 

 by the eighteenth-century fishermen, both in England and France. 

 In one type (Fig. 4, p. 16) the modern trawl-head or trawl-iron was 

 represented by knee-pieces of wood (AB) bent into the shape shown 

 in the illustration. In these knee-pieces one or more stones were 

 placed, serving to sink the trawl to the bottom. In the latter half 

 of this century the fishermen of St. Brieuc (near St. Malo) used a 

 superior kind of trawl (Fig. 4, p. 16) in which the trawl-heads were 

 wooden frames attached in the manner shown. Each head was 

 bracket -shaped (A), the beam (B) stretching between them. The beam 

 was fixed in the trawl-head by means of a perforated stone (C), which 

 served as a sort of ballast. At the point (D) of the trawl-head there 

 was a projection to which the bridle was attached. The base of 

 the trawl-head was rounded so that it would move more easily 

 over the sea-bottom. It will be noticed that in this trawl the head- 

 line is not laced up to the beam, but curves backward a little and 

 is provided with cork floats. This net was intended for the capture 

 of bottom-living fish, both flat and round, aiid to' assist in this 

 pockets were laced in on either side at' the point marked F. These 

 pockets extended from the trawl-heads for nearly three parts of 

 the length of the trawl." The cod-end was rather broader than in the 

 present-day trawl, and to either end a small rope with a stone was 

 attached to keep the net spread out on the bottom. 



The most elaborate of these older trawls was one in which the 

 opening was secured by means of an iron framework, similar to 

 that now used in an oyster dredge, except that it was much larger, 

 extending up to 14 ft. in length (Fig. 5, p. 16). Instead of a foot- 



