BULLETIN OE THE UNITED STATES ElSH COMMISSION. 389 
2. Vessels. 
Smacks are used for beam-trawling; these carry crews of eight men 
each. Some of them are ketch-rigged, but others are cutter-rigged, 
carrying only a single mast. 
3. Apparatus. 
The beam-trawls used by the French have the same general features 
as those employed by the English, which have been fully described. 
“In the French trawls the net is very much shorter in proportion to 
the length of the beam; it tapers regularly to the end, has no distinct 
cod, as in the English nets, and the rubbing pieces extend across the 
under side of the trawl for some distance from the end, which is specially 
protected from chafing by having a stout hide underneath.” 1 
The ground rope is sometimes weighted with chain that is fastened 
to it in festoons, similar to the plan adopted by Belgian fishermen. 
The same pattern of head-iron that is used by the English is also, I 
am informed, now most generally adopted by French fishermen. At 
the time Holdsworth wrote, other forms w r ere in favor in France to a 
considerable extent, though he mentions that even then the Brixham 
pattern was used. 
French Trawl-heads (after Holdsworth). 
Concerning these peculiar forms of trawl-heads he writes as follows : 
“Among other varieties of trawl-head may be mentioned those we 
have found used by some of the French trawlers, and the noticeable 
feature in them is that the beam is placed so near the front of the head 
as to require the tow-rope to be fixed very low to prevent the fore part 
of the shoe burying itself in the ground. This is further guarded 
against in one variety [see Fig. 27] by the additional length of the 
frame behind the beam. There appears to be a want of balance in 
these French irons which is not the case with those used by our own 
fishermen. No doubt there is some degree of fancy in the shapes 
adopted ; but the English irons strike one as better adapted for their 
work, and the Brixham pattern is now being much used by the French 
trawlers. By means of these irons the trawl-beam is kept nearly 3 feet 
above the ground, so that it neither touches nor causes any disturbance 
*Deep Sea Fishing, etc., p. 61. 
