INTRODUCTION xxv 



deck — ^very laboriously if the vessel is without 

 steam power ; the beam and foot-rope are made 

 fast to the rail, and the remainder of the net is 

 gathered in by hand ; finally the contracted apex 

 or " cod end," into which the whole catch has 

 been gathered, is brought on board and its end 

 untied, and the contents allowed to fall on deck. 

 The trawl is once more " shot," and while it is 

 being dragged the fish are separated out, gutted, 

 packed into boxes, and put away with ice in the 

 fish-hold ; the miscellaneous mass of rubbish and 

 unmarketable fishes is then thrown overboard. 



I have described such a trawl as was employed 

 previous to about 1893 ; since then the beam- 

 trawl has entirely disappeared from steam trawl- 

 ing vessels, and has been replaced by the " otter 

 board " trawl. In this apparatus the net and foot- 

 rope are similar to those in the older form, but 

 the beam is replaced by a strong rope — the " head 

 line," which may be over 100 feet in length. 

 It is attached to two heavy wooden boards shod 

 with iron, and nearly the size of ordinary doors, 

 to which the trawl warps are attached in such 

 a way that the board drags on the ground by 

 one of its long edges, and its surface is set at an 

 angle to the direction in which the net is being 

 dragged. This keeps the mouth of the net 

 stretched open in the same way as in the beam- 

 trawl. The otter-trawl is hauled by two warps 

 instead of one, as in the beam-trawl. It is much 



