BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 309^ 
for hoisting up the after end of the beam when the trawl is got on 
board. In the North Sea trawlers the trawl-warp is worked and got 
in over the side by means of a patent capstan shipped near the center 
of the vessel. This excellent contrivance is worked by two ordinary 
winch handles acting on an arrangement of rack and pinion fitted 
either to the top of the spindle round which the capstan turns, or to 
an iron standard by the side of the capstan. 
“The large trawl-vessels now in use from Grimsby and Hull, and re- 
cently built, are rigged in a different manner from that which has long 
been the general custom with the smaller craft. It was found that the 
increased size of the mainsail and heavy main-boom necessary for these 
larger vessels required more hands to manage them ; and as the quan- 
tity of fish taken by these vessels did not increase in proportion to the 
greater size — the nets used by them being only slightly enlarged — - 
economy and convenience were both in favor of reducing the large 
mainsail if it could be done without seriously diminishing the working 
power of the vessel. The new trawlers were therefore built of consid- 
erable length, so as to give plenty of room for a good mizzen-mast ; the 
mast being stepped well forward to allow sufficient steering room abaft, 
the large unmanageable mainsail was got rid of, and the reduction in 
its size made up by a good-sized gaflf-mizzen. These vessels can now 
be worked economically, and the sails, being in comparatively small 
pieces, are managed with only one hand more than in much smaller 
craft. Although these large trawlers do not bring in much more fish 
than the vessels perhaps 15 or 20 tons smaller — for the longest beams 
now in use do not exceed 50 feet — it is believed their greater cost is 
compensated for by the additional accommodation provided. 1 The 
crew have more room and increased cooking conveniences, and there is 
much better stowage for the ice and fish ; and it speaks well both for 
the owners and the prosperity of the fishing trade that the men who 
are exposed to the hardships and dangers of the deep-sea fisheries are 
taken good care of by those who, having in most cases themselves gone 
through with the practical part of the work, are now in the happy po- 
sition of owners, and can remain comfortably on shore. 
“At Yarmouth, and some other places on the North Sea coast, the lug. 
gers, when not employed in herring fishing, are in some cases converted 
1 In describing the discovery of the Great Silver Pit and its influence on the devel- 
opment of the trawl fishery, etc., Holdsworth writes as follows concerning changes 
which were made in the vessels : “ At the time of the discovery of this ground the 
number of North Sea trawlers was very small ; they were then only of about half 
the size of the majority of the smacks of the present day; and not enough was known 
of the fishing grounds to tempt the fishermen far from the land in vessels of such 
little power, either to face the weather they would be likely to encounter, or to seek 
for fish at a long distance from market. The first objection has been fairly met by 
the large increase in the size of the smacks ; and the second has been practically re- 
moved by the great extension of railways along the coast, the employment of large, 
fast-sailing cutters or steamers as ‘ carriers ’ to collect and bring in the fish from the 
smacks.” 
