THE MACKEREL PURSE-SEINE FISHERY. 255 
Sometimes they toll the school alongside and spread the seine around the vessel, and after she 
sails over the cork-rope and away to leeward, the net is pursed up and the fish captured. It is 
often the case, too, when mackerel are moving rapidly, for the men in the dory to throw bait ahead 
of the school, and while the fish are thus induced to stop, the seine-boat circles around them, the 
net is thrown out and while yet engaged in feeding, the fish are inclosed in the big purse. Many 
good catches are obtained in this way. The favorite bait is slivered and salted menhaden, of which 
each vessel carries 5 to 10 barrels when they can be procured. Most of the vessels, however, at 
the present: time, depend entirely upon small mackerel, which they catch and salt. The bait-mill, 
bait-boxes, and bait-throwers are similar to thése used in the mackevel-hook fishery, and are used 
in the same manner. % 
METHODS OF SEINING BY DAY.—The following description of the method of seining mackerel 
is mainly from the pen of Mr. J. P. Gordy: When a vessel is on the fishing grounds and there are no 
_signs of fish, if the weather is favorable, a man is stationed at the mast-head on the lookout, while the 
rest of the crew, excepting, of course, the man at the wheel, lounge lazily around, amusing them- 
selves as they feel inclined. Ifa whale is seen blowing or a vessel is “ putting out her boat,” the 
man at the wheel steers toward them. The skipper is usually on deck directing the evolutions of 
the vessel, and is consulted before any change is made in the course of the vessel. When signs of 
fish begin to be numerous, and sea geese and gannets are plenty, and whales and porpoises show 
themselves frequently, the “fishy men” of the crew stop lounging and begin to survey the surface 
of the water intently. At such times one can count half a dozen here and there in the rigging, 
carefully observing the movements of other vessels, if any of the fleet are in sight. “There’s 
crooked actions, men,” the skipper exclaims, meaning that some vessel in sight suddenly alters her 
course, and that she is either on fish herself or sees another vessel that is. When one school ap- 
pears, another is likely to be seen, and when a vessel has “crooked actions,” those who observe 
them bend their course in the direction in which she is sailing. When a man sees fish, he shouts, 
“T see a school.” “Where?” asks the captain. The direction is indicated. “ How does it look; 
is it a good one?” He wants to know whether they are tinkers or whether the fish seem large. If 
they are abundant he will wait until he gets a “sight” at a good school. Much attention is paid by the 
lookouts to the mauner in which the school of fish is moving. The sciners prefer those schools 
which are “cart wheeling,’* or going round and round in circles in a compact body, in the act of 
feeding. Fish which are “cart wheeling” can be surrounded with a seine much more readily than 
those going straight ahead in one direction. 
If the man who has found the school is not experienced, the captain examines it for himself, 
and if satisfied that it is a good one he shouts, “‘ Get in the seine-boat; look alive, boys.” Asa 
pack of school-boys jump from an apple tree when the indignant owner appears, so eleven men 
leap into the seine-boat one over another, as if they had meant to jump overboard but by accident 
had reached the seine-boat instead. The captain takes his place at the steering-oar. Two men sit 
on the forward part of the seine and one at the cork-line, ready to “throw out thé twine” when the 
captain gives the word of command. The remaining seven row swiftly and silently until the fish 
disappear or the captain orders them them to “stop rowing.” All the while the captain is eagerly 
watching the fish, noticing which way they move and how fast. Before beginning to put out histwine, 
he wants to get near enough to enable him to make the wings of the seine meet around the school. 
He must, therefore, keep far enough away to prevent the head of the school from striking the seine 
until it is nearly pursed up. He calculates the speed of the fish, and sets the seine in such a man- 
mer that by the time the school gets thoroughly within the circle of the net he will be able to come 
“This habit of circling, which the mackerel performs, is also called “ milling” by the fishermen. 
