Till-; NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



SPEEDING FOR MARKET : A BANKER IN WINTER RIG 



''The modern Bank fishing-schooners are undoubtedly the handsomest commercial sailing- 

 craft afloat. They are built of wood and range from ioo to 150 feet in length, with a tonnage 

 of from 80 to 175 tons." 



distinct type from his colleagues in other 

 countries, and adds to his vocation a 

 hazard and labor which calls for certain 

 sterling qualities to surmount. 



It is a peculiar fact that the North 

 American fisherman, of all white fisher- 

 men, has stood out longest against mod- 

 ern innovations in fishing methods and 

 equipment. In Europe, years ago sailing 

 smacks and hook and line were dis- 

 carded for the steam-trawler and drifter. 

 The trawler of steel construction, pro- 

 pelled by steam or motor, has only been 

 used in the American fisheries of late 

 years, and at present there are about 

 sixty of these craft on this side compared 

 to the thousands in Europe. 



But while backward in changing over 

 to steel and steam, our fishermen have 

 evolved a type of sailing schooner which 

 is the last word in weatherly qualities and 

 speed under sail, and the men who man 

 these vessels are the only real sailors left 

 in this age of steam. 



THREE KINDS OE BANK FISHERIES 



There are three distinct fisheries in 

 which the schooner fleets of the Western 

 North Atlantic are employed, namely,, 

 fresh fishing, salt fishing, and halibut 

 fishing. Mackerel seining also employs a 

 schooner fleet during the season, but this 

 is not a Bank fishery in the accepted sense 

 of the term. 



