254 EEPOET OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH .AND FISHEEIES. 



A harpoon of a somewhat similar character is sometimes fired from a 

 shoulder-gun, either with or without a torpedo (bomb-lance) attachment. 

 This method is rarely used on our coast for the true fishes, so far as 1 

 know being confined to the capture of whale. 



The explosion of torpedoes under the water has only lately come into 

 vogue, and it is said has been employed with much success on our south- 

 ern coast. This method is used by poachers in England and Scotland 

 for taking salmon and trout surreptitiously, the torpedo being fired, 

 when sank to the bottom, by means of a portable battery or otherwise. 

 It is said that many fish are killed in this way, and tbat it is extremely, 

 difficult, if not impossible, to detect the poacher. A similar practice is 

 said to have been recently introduced into New Jersey among the trout- 

 ponds. 



The Indians of Maine and New Brunswick are accustomed to kill por- 

 poises in the bays and off the coast, and about the islands of Campobello 

 and Grand Manan, with muskets loaded with buckshot. In this pursuit 

 two Indians go out together in a canoe, when the sea is calm, and hunt for 

 the porpoises as for other wild game, and when one is seen anywhere in the 

 distance, they row with all their skill and might directly toward the ob- 

 ject, and, when sufficiently near, fire at the head of the porpoise as it 

 comes above the surface. Being good marksmen, they almost invaria- 

 bly wound and stun the fish; but as it would quickly sink beyond reach 

 if killed, a lance with a long handle is made use of to fasten to and hold 

 the game, which is soon deposited in the bottom of the canoe. About 

 the northern head of Grand Manan, and in other favorable localities, 

 the canoes of the Indians may be seen scattered over the water by 

 dozens, upon a favorable day, watching for porpoises, the summer sea- 

 son being spent in temporary encampments on the shore by Indians 

 from various parts of the northeast coast of Maine and New Brunswick. 



These different methods, however, are of little moment compared with 

 the use of the hook and line, nets, and weirs. 



LINES. 



Line fishing varies in its character, from the coarse, heavy cord used 

 in taking fish at great depths in the sea, to the delicate apparatus of 

 the trout, salmon, and striped-bass fishermen, the first-mentioned being 

 the most important in an economical point of view. It may consist 

 either of the hand-line or the set-line. In the case of the hand-line we 

 have a single line and one or two hooks baited and sunk to or near the 

 bottom, or thrown to any desired distance by means of a weight, and 

 managed fron, the shore, or from a boat anchored or moving slowly ; or 

 the line may be drawn rapidly over the surface of the water behind a 

 sail-boat, as in the capture of blue-fish, Spanish mackerel, striped bass, 

 black bass, &c, either with or without a bait, other than some shining 

 substance to. attract the attention of the fish in question. This is known 

 as trawling or trolling. 



The more effective line apparatus, however, consists in the use of what 

 is called in the United States the " trawl-line" or " trot-line ; " in England 

 known as "long-line," "spillans, 17 "spillar," or "bultow." This consists 

 essentially of a long line from forty fathoms to several miles in length, 

 which is anchored at each end to the bottom, the position of the ends 

 being shown by buoys, and short lines of about three feet attached at 

 intervals of about seven or eight feet, with a hook at the other end. In 

 some cases the hooks on a single line number as many as five thousand, 

 although on the coast of Maine and Massachusetts there are usually from 



