THE BANK TRAWL-LINE COD FISHERY. 157 
“As fast as the salt is used out of the pens these are knocked down and additional kenches 
formed, and so on to the end. When the fish settle, which they always do, they are ‘packed up’ 
by removing a portion from the after kenches and packing them on the top of those which are 
forward until the latter extend up to the deck. After this process has been two or three times 
repeated the settling does not amount to much.” 
At the present time codfish-roe is never saved by the Bank fishermen, but all the livers are 
carefully preserved in the “liver butts,” already described. As the oil begins to make its appear- 
ance at the top of the cask, or “makes out,” as the fishermen describe it, it is dipped out into 
water barrels and stowed away in the hold. Sixty barrels of liver yield from 20 to 24 barrels of 
oil. The livers are fattest in midsummer and have least oil in winter. 
The sounds are occasionally saved by the cook, and, less frequently, the tongues, and these 
are the perquisites of the person who saves them. On some of the Western Bank trips, when hake 
are abundant, the cook’s profits from the saving of sounds often amount to as much as his share 
of the voyage. 
The manner of discharging the cargo of a banker is somewhat different from that customary 
with other vessels and should be briefly referred to. The fish are first taken out upon the wharf 
and weighed. ‘They are then pitched into a tank of water, or very frequently into an old dory, 
which serves instead of a tank. Men standing around with brushes clean off the slime and dirt 
which remain upon the skin and flesh of the fish, and they are then thrown upon barrows and 
wheeled into the salting building, where they are either packed in kench for “ water-horseing” 
or resalted in butts. The process of curing is described elsewhere. 
6. THE FINANCIAL PROFITS OF THE TRAWL FISHERY. 
The statistics of the Bank fishery from Gloucester are discussed in Section II, Geographica! 
Review of the Fisheries, pages 155, 156, and several examples of large fares are noticed, which 
show the profits sometimés realized in this fishery. 
The following statement shows the result and the manner of settling the proceeds of a trawling 
trip on the schooner Victor, of Gloucester, sailed July 12 and returned October 13, 1879: 
® 
71,200 pounds large cod, at 2 cents ......---- --. 20+ cece ee cece cone cee eee cece en eee eee $1, 424 00 
7,440 pounds small cod, at 1 cent ..-.-. 2... 2-2. cence cece en cee ee nee e ee meee cenecees 74 40 
280 pounds halibut... 2. 2-22. eee eee ween cee nee cece ee cone nee cee eee cece ee cece tone 3 50 
Oil Old Dy Captain sa:5.ci00: cincs ccisearcsccenee sud seceen saceerceseacecetiemseasia siticiwcs 27 20 
Livers landed in Gloucester . ....-. 0-2. 002 ssene cence ceccee nec Sateen smeehajascen sete 20 00 
1,549 10 
Stock charges .-.. 2.00. cece cece cone see cee cece cee ewe cnc nee ane cane au ecee eens woes eee 236 57 
1,312 53 
One-half to vessel ...-.. 2. 02020. cece ee cee cece nee eet e cree eee cates teens nec nee 656 26 
656 27 
One-half of one per cent. for widows’ and orphans’ fund ... 2... .2..--- 2-2 eee eee wane ne 3 28 
652 99 
General charges ....-. ---- .-- 220 seen cee ee cece ee ence ee cece eee wenn ener en cone eee 29 50 
Balance to crew and skipper ......--2- 0.2220 cane cece cee cee eee cone cnet cee cnee 623 49 
This amount, $623.49, was shared among the crew and skipper, the twelve receiving $51.96 
per man. In addition to his share as one of the crew, the skipper received 4 per cent. of the net 
stock, $1,312.53, or $52.50. 
