After prayer, on the vessels where it is said, each man receives a ration of 

 brandy and bread or biscuits. 



Between 3:30 and 4:00 o'clock, in summer, the dories are put overboard, 

 or cast off from the mooring line, and the fishermen go to haul the trawls. 

 This is done in the reverse of setting, into the wind and against the current to 

 avoid fouling. The first anchor is hauled in with its buoy. Then, as they are 

 hauled, the lines are coiled in the tubs in the bottom of the dory. The cod 

 are unhooked and thrown into the boat, the head doryman gaffing those which 

 become unhooked as they come out of the water. The small fish are thrown 

 back where it is usually seized by dogfish which follow the dory, frequently 

 seizing cod caught on the line, while the Greenland sharks more often do their 

 damage while the trawl is still on the bottom. Neither one nor the other seems 

 to be bothered by the hook which it swallows with the cod. 



Usually other bottom fish are caught with the cod, such as haddock, hali- 

 but and skates. The skates are almost always thrown back. According to 

 circumstances, the haddock are thrown back or saved to be salted with the 

 cod. When the dories are not heavily loaded with cod, a part or all of the hal- 

 ibut is saved, either to be eaten on board, or to be salted as part of a small 

 supply of "false-fish" the outfitter allows the fishermen. 



From the time of departure to return of the dories, hauling of the lines 

 lasts from 3 to 5 hours and sometimes more, according to the weather and the 

 catch. When the fishermen are obliged, because of the abundance of fish 

 which fills their dories, to make two trips, the last dories may not return be- 

 fore noon. These are then days so wearying the men sleep with a leg hanging 

 from their bunks which they have neither the strength nor the courage to pull 

 back in! 



Sometimes imprudent acts are committed: in order to make only one 

 trip, the men load their dory to the gunwale. Then, at the least ripple, it 

 can founder, after which the men, engulfed in their heavy boots and stiff e- 

 quipment, are in the water where aid cannot reach them immediately. 



As each dory comes alongside, the cod are immediately thrown on deck 

 by means of a steel-pointed pike with a wooden handle. During the unloading, 

 the fish are counted by the mate who records the count to the credit of each 

 man. 



The dories tied to the mooring line, the men eat rapidly, then set to work 

 on the cod. 



87 



