348 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
THE FYKE NET IN OTHER COUNTRIES. 
Information is lacking on which to base a satisfactory account of the fyke-net 
fisheries of other countries. While it is known that the fyke net constitutes a more 
or less prominent type of apparatus in most of the principal waters of Europe and 
Asia, and doubtless other grand divisions, it is possible at this time to do little more 
than describe a few styles that have been met with in reports, museums, and exposi- 
tions. While some of these are similar to and identical with nets employed in the 
United States, others represent widely divergent forms. 
Aside from the general interest which a study of the different types of fykes pos- 
sesses, descriptions of the fykes of other nations and illustrations of the forms peculiar 
to them may not be without practical value to our fishermen. 
Fykes are used only to a limited extent in Canada. They are most numerous in 
the district of Montreal, in the St. Lawrence River, and in Lake Ontario. They are 
not found on the coast. The fishery is not very important and is mostly carried on 
by farmers whose lands abut on the waters in which the nets are set. The catch con- 
sists chiefly of sunfish, perch, catfish, and suckers, and other “ soft fish ” ( poissons mou). 
Black bass are taken, but they are said not to remain in the nets when caught, and 
the yield is small. In Upper Canada the name u hoop net” is usually given to this 
form of apparatus ; in lower Canada it is known as the fyke net. Among the French 
population it .bears the same designation as in France — verveux. Its introduction 
into Canada can be traced to the early French colonists. 
The fishery regulations operative in Canada requiring the issuance of a license 
for each device employed and limiting the number or quantity of apparatus that may 
be set by one person applies to fyke nets as well as to pound nets, trap nets, and 
other sedentary appliances, so called. The practice of setting fyke nets end to end, 
as is done in parts of the United States, is not permitted in Canada. Not more than 
one net may be set in a line, and the number that may be used by one person is lim- 
ited to five. A license fee of $2 or $3 per net is charged. 
The most common forms of fykes used in Canada have from 4 to 6 hoops, are 
usually provided with wings, and often have, also, a leader; they do not differ from 
similar nets psed in the United States. One special type, however, seems to be 
peculiar; instead of opening into a regular pocket or bag, the last funnel enters and 
terminates in a large rectangular compartment like the bovrl of a pound net or the 
crib of a floating trap. This style of fyke is employed only in the Richelieu River, 
which drains Lake Champlain.* 
The fyke net is employed in a number of minor fisheries in Great Britain, where, 
as has already been stated, it is known as the hoop net. It is not a popular form of 
apparatus, and shares with the pound net and similar devices the disapprobation in 
which such sedentary fisheries are held in the British Isles. 
An English writer on fishing nets, referring to this apparatus at a time when 
machine-made nets were unknown and unthought of, gives the following curious 
detailed instructions for its manufacture : 
The hoop net consists of two parts, the body and the valve or funnel, which are united in the 
manner hereafter to he described. Begin with the body at its lower or pointed end and work up to 
its mouth thus : Net 37 loops round on a 4-inch spool, one row; take a 2-inch spool and net 20 rows 
* For the foregoing' in formation on the fyke nets of Canada the writer is indebted to Dr. William 
Wakeham, of the fisheries department of Canada. 
