BRITTANY: THE LAND OF THE SARDINE 



557 



•of a short line. When fish are abundant 

 the fishermen often let one net go adrift 

 when it is full of fish, trusting to pick it 

 up later, and put out another net. The 

 sardines are often found in a compact 

 body containing hundreds of thousands 

 or perhaps millions, and the boats will be 

 concentrated in a comparatively small 

 area, at times so close together that the 

 operation of the nets would seem almost 

 impossible and the chance of catching 

 fish very improbable. The entire fleet of 

 a given port, consisting of several hun- 

 dred boats, may be at work on one shoal 

 at one time. 



SARDINE CANNOT BE CAUGHT WITHOUT 

 BAIT 



There are several features of the fish- 

 ery that are most exceptional, not to say 

 anomalous. One of these is that, not- 

 withstanding the fish are caught in gill- 

 nets, bait is used in large quantities and 

 is indispensable. In no other net fishery 

 in the world is bait so extensively em- 

 ployed or so essential to the success. 

 Various things have been and still are 

 employed for this purpose, but the bait 

 now in general use is the salted eggs of 

 the codfish, although any other small eggs 

 will answer just as well. The reason 

 cod eggs are used is that they may be ob- 

 tained in immense quantities. 



The casting of the bait, on the proper 

 use of which a great deal of the success 

 of fishing depends, is always done by the 

 captain, who stands on a little platform 

 in the stern and, while directing the 

 movements of the boat and the manipu- 

 lation of the net, throws the bait to at- 

 tract the fish to the surface and around 

 the boat. When the fish are on one side 

 of the net or the other, his next move is 

 to cast the bait in such a way as to cause 

 them to rush against the net and thus 

 become gilled. 



Considerable skill and experience are 

 required in having the net hang properly 

 in the water and not become folded or 

 wavy, owing to currents or tide, for un- 

 less the net is straight or only slightly 

 curved, it will be seen by the fish and 

 avoided. 



When a net contains fish it is hauled 

 into the boat and the catch is removed 

 by gentle shaking or by hand. The deli- 

 cate fish are put in a compartment in the 

 bottom and are handled with great care, 

 so as to avoid crushing and bruising. 

 As no ice is used for preservation, it is 

 important that the boats reach port as 

 promptly as possible, and almost inva- 

 riably the fish are landed in excellent con- 

 dition, and are often delivered at the 

 factories within an hour or two after 

 capture. 



The sardines are sought and found 

 rather close to shore, thus permitting the 

 use of small boats, and the landing of 

 the fish a short time after capture is 

 insured. Most of the fishing is done in- 

 side the bays and within two or three 

 miles of shore, and only rarely is it nec- 

 essary to go as far as ten miles from 

 land. 



THE SUCCESS OE THE SARDINE ElSHING 

 SEASON DEPENDS ALMOST ENTIRELY 

 ON GETTING BAIT FROM NORWAY 



Another remarkable fact regarding this 

 fishery is that the indispensable bait is not 

 a home product, but has to be imported 

 at great expense, and therefore this most 

 valuable fishery of France is absolutely 

 dependent on the fishermen of other 

 countries and its success is intimately 

 related to the outcome of fisheries for 

 other species in far-distant waters. 



The annual consumption of cod roe for 

 bait is from 40,000 to 50,000 barrels, and 

 for this the Breton fishermen pay about 

 $350,000. The greater part of the bait 

 comes from Norway, where for at least 

 two centuries the cod fishermen about the 

 Lofoden Islands have been salting what 

 would otherwise be a waste product and 

 selling it at lucrative prices to the Bre- 

 tons. Small quantities of this roe have 

 been contributed by Newfoundland, Hol- 

 land and the United States ; but efforts 

 to induce the French cod fishermen in 

 Newfoundland. Saint Pierre and Mique- 

 lon, Iceland and the North Sea to save 

 this product have been futile, notwith- 

 standing that as early as i8t6 the gov- 

 ernment offered French fishermen a 



