CHAPTER III 



THE TRAWLING GROUNDS. DRIFT-NET FISHING. 

 TRAWLING FOR HERRING 



IN England and Wales more fish is landed by trawlers than by 

 all other methods of fishing combined. Trawl-caught fish, 

 consisting to a large extent of prime fish, such as soles, plaice, 

 turbot, halibut and cod, is much more valuable than fish caught 

 by drift nets, such as herring and mackerel, so that while the weight 

 of trawl-caught fish is not much more than drift and draw net fish, 

 its value is probably at least three times as great. In England and 

 Wales in 1913 the weight of pelagic fish amounted to 389,262 tons, 

 and that of demersal fish to 418,038 tons. The former was valued 

 at £2,531,979 and the latter at £7,463,003. In Scotland trawling, 

 though it has made remarkable progress during the last few years, 

 is still subordinate to drift net and line fishing. The total value 

 of fish landed in Scotland during 1913 was £3,997,717, representing 

 a weight of 391.417 tons. Of this 177,097 tons valued at £1,424,115 

 was trawl-caught fish. 



The area exploited by British steam trawlers is that of the con- 

 tinental shelf of Northern Africa and Western Europe. The opera- 

 tions of these vessels are limited by the extent of this shelf since 

 edible demersal fish are not met with in sufficient quantities to make 

 commercial fishing a success at depths greater than 200 fathoms. 

 At this depth the continental shelf deepens very rapidly and 500 

 fathoms are soon met with. For practical purposes the 100 fathom 

 or 200 metre line may be taken as the limit of commercial steam 

 trawling, though certain kinds of fish such as liag, hake, megrims 

 and witches are met with in paying quantities down to 200 fathoms. 

 For statistical purposes the demersal fish landed in England and 

 Wales is referred since 1905 to one of fourteen fishing areas. Taking 

 these in order from North to South the first is that known as the 

 " White Sea." This area was first visited by Enghsh trawlers 

 in 1905, and was only then fished in the summer months. Com- 

 petition — ever keen — ^has now compelled trawlers to fish these 

 grounds the whole year through. The area is not within the White 

 Sea proper, at any rate, not to any appreciable extent. A more 



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