342 BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
7. Heaving up the Trawl. 
Under ordinary circumstances the trawl is hove up when the tide has 
done running, if it is day-time, or when the limit of a fishing- ground is 
reached and it is not practicable to tow back over it on the other tack. 
As a rule, the North Sea fishermen tow' all night if the conditions are 
favorable — tacking or wearing the trawl round with the change of 
tide — haul in the morning, dress, box, and deliver the fish on board of 
the carrier, 1 and then, if the day is short, work to windward for another 
night’s drift over the ground. In summer, the trawl is usually shot 
during the early part of the day, as well as at night, and hove up in 
the afternoon ; thus two hauls are made instead of one. If fleeting, as 
is the general way in summer, the admiral signals when to shoot and 
when to heave up the gear. However, it frequently happens that a 
smack’s trawl may catch afoul on the bottom, and therefore it is neces- 
sary to heave it up whether it has been out long or not, and it is often 
found desirable to get the gear at midnight and make a second u shot,” 
especially when fleeting. 
The following description of the method adopted on board of the 
Willie and Ada will give a fair idea of how the trawl is hove up and got 
onboard of the ordinary North Sea sailing trawler, in moderate weather: 
About 3 o’clock p. m. the fourth hand, a lad of some seventeen years 
of age, w T ho was on deck, shouted down the companion that he thought 
the admiral was hauling. The captain instantly ran on deck, bare- 
headed, and satisfying himself that the report made by the watch was 
correct, came back into the cabin and called all hands ; the men, in 
obedience to his call, soon making their appearance on deck. When 
they were all up, the jib sheet was eased off, the helm put down, and two 
or three of the men shoved forward on the trawl-warp until it was 
placed on the roller. Two turns of the hawser had previously been 
put on the capstan, and as the vessel swung slowly head to the wind — 
helped by the mizzen, which the skipper hauled to windward — the 
cranks were shipped on the capstan preparatory to heaving, while the 
cook jumped down into the hold to receive and coil the warp as it came 
in. When the vessel tacked — which she was assisted in doing by the 
trawl-warp being so far forward — she “ went back over her gear,” as it 
is called, slacking up the hawser, which the men hove in as rapidly as 
possible until it was tightened again, when the foresail was hauled 
down, the helm was put a-lee, and the smack brought on the other tack. 
In this way the skipper continued tacking the vessel, making short 
boards back and forth, u working up to the gear,” while the men at 
the capstan hove away briskly until all the slack was in. The object 
of this maneuver was to get in the greater part of the warp with as little 
labor as possible, since, of course, it is far easier to heave in slack haw- 
Hf the vessel is fishing alone, or “single-boating” as it is called, the fish are 
dressed and packed in bins or pens in the hold. 
