68 SALT-WATER FISHES 



when the boats get back, the factory at Mevagissey purchasing 

 the bulk to make into " sardines," while the rest is bought up for 

 export to Italy, or by the " jowders," or inland fish-hawkers. 

 A curious exchange of Mediterranean and Channel fish is seen 

 in the pilchard and sardine industry. These are, of course, 

 one and the same fish in different stages, but, whereas the 

 fishermen of southern Europe catch the smaller " sardine " and 

 cure it in oil for consumption in cold northern cities where oil 

 is appreciated, we pickle the older fish in salt for use in the 

 towns of the south. 



As already mentioned, the use of the drift-net is character- 

 istic of Cornwall and the east coast, though it is also employed 

 in other parts of the Channel. Trawling, on the other hand, 

 is the chief method of netting fish in Devon and on the coasts 

 of Sussex and Kent, as well as on the flat coast of Lancashire. 

 Drift-net fishing for mackerel is much practised, also, at the 

 eastern end of the Channel, at Hastings, as well as small 

 trawling in Rye Bay, and the old " hog " boats, a local 

 development arising out of the special conditions of the 

 sloping shingle foreshore of Sussex, are familiar to all who 

 know that corner of England. The long-distance trawling 

 out of Hull and other ports on the east side can hardly be 

 included in fishing on the English coast. 



Trawling is, however, the most important mode of fishing 

 in our seas. It is also the most destructive, as will be readily 

 understood when the construction and working of the trawl 

 are explained. The trammel catches only such passing fish as 

 enmesh themselves in its slack netting, and even the drift-net 

 waits for the fish to destroy themselves in its strands. "With 

 the trawl, however, it is a case of the mountain going to 

 Mohammed, and this deep and yawning purse tears its way over 

 the sandy ground, scooping up everything that lies in its path. 

 It is towed, with the tide, for preference, in a light breeze, the 

 net being allowed to drag lightly over the ground. Contrary 

 to what the uninitiated would be inclined to think, it is less 



