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THE TiiOPICAi. AaRlCULTDHlST, 
[June 1, 190S. 
The bi'iefest history of trawl-fishinf? would 
be very incomplete without a description of 
the " Otter " which has now been generally 
adopted in place of the "Beam." Few 
people, perhaps, know anything about the 
working of trawling gear, or how the fish 
are caught. The beam trawl might be 
described as a triangular purse-shaped net, 
with a mouth kept open by a horizontal 
wooden beam, usually about 50 feet in length, 
raised from the bottom of the sea 3 or 4 
feet, by pieces of iron, shaped like a sleigh, so 
as to slip over the bottom as easily as pos- 
sible. To the beam is lastened the net about 
120 feet in length contrived with pockets so 
that the fish cannot escape when once they 
enter. 
This clumsy contrivance has now been 
altogether abandoned in Aberdeen for the 
" Otter," which, it is safe to say, has re- 
volutionised the industry— increasing the 
cf^tching power by 100 per cent, especially 
as regards round fishes, such as cod, haddock, 
etc., which swim a little distance from the 
bottom of the sea. After the introduction 
of the " Otter" the prosperity of the Aber- 
deen fishing went up by bounds. 
The principle of the thing and modus 
operandi are simplicity itself. 
Two boards 4^ feet square are fixed at 
the mouth of a net, which on being dragged 
through the water are forced apart, 
thereby opening the trawl. ISot only are 
more fish netted, but the apparatus bein^ 
less unwieldy, the work of the fishermen is 
greatly lightened. Professor Mcintosh, of 
yt. Andrew's, in his very interesting work 
•' The Resources of the Sea," says :— 
The trawl is usually down for five hours 
on the Great Fisher Bank, though 
trawlers working nearer home regulate 
the time by the nature of the bottom, 
the trawling period on hard ground being 
three hours, on soft ground five hours, the 
rate of speed while trawling is about 2^ knots 
an hour, though on muddy ground a higher 
rate of speed may be maintained," 
The Moray Firth, as is well-known, is closed 
against Scottish trawlers; but absurdly enough, 
open to foreigners who are constantly at 
work there : — " Slowly," he says, "the conclu- 
sion has been reached that the closure of 
regions of the open sea in a country like 
Britain presents few advantages worthy of 
the constant strain and irritation of class 
against class, or of the considerable annual 
expenditure. The closure is powerless to pre- 
vent the capture of small fish and so far as 
history and observations go, there is no 
ground for alarm in regard to the permanence 
of the food fishes." 
Aberdeen is, of course, the chief centre of 
trawl-fishing in Scotland and it is not with- 
out some pangs of regret that one sees the 
ancient fishing villages along the coast being 
abandoned. The older fishermen will never 
take to trawling, much less to life in a large 
city; but the younger generation takes kindly 
to both and knowing the fishing grounds so 
well, their services are valuable. The traw- 
ling fisher is altogether a different type from 
the sturdy old salt we were won't to see in blue 
jersey and sou'-wester. 
The modern trawler, while ashore, affects 
the dandy, struts in high-heeled shoes, 
with bowler hat cocked jauntily to one side, 
gold ring on his fingers and a good cigar in 
his moutij ; while his speech indicates that 
he is none of Scotia's sons, his aspirates be- 
tray the fact that he was bred in the 
far South. An attempt was lately made to 
transport and settle a small fleet and crew 
at a northern township calSed " The Broch," 
but our Anglo-trawler positively refused to 
remain there. " Why! there is no 'all 
there," said one to me, meaning that there 
was no Music Hall to furnish them 
with amusement when they came ashore, 
and no doubt their life is a rather mono- 
tonous one. The Englishman is not so fond 
of reading as the average Scot, who can 
always while away an hour with a book. 
I hove already indicated that the industry 
yields handsome profits, but I ought to add, 
that these profits c\o not always reach thQ 
