COMPARATIVE STUDY OF SCOMBROID FISHES. 
397 
and line, casting line, ordinary hand-line, troll line, and long line—of which 
the third and fifth are widely used. The ordinary hand-line is nearly 
so long as the depth of the fishing ground. The gear consists of a spreader 
or a lever, to which a sinker and a hag for tole bait are attached. The long 
line is also largely used. It is a drift line, suspended from barrels by means 
of buoy-lines, weighed sometimes with light weights. Hooks of these lines 
are dressed with small pieces of sardine, saurel, or mackerel itself. The 
artificial bait is seldom used. Hangings of the hand-line are of worm-gut. 
The hand-line gear is essentially like that for the samel. 
In the seerfish fishery three kinds of hook and line are used;—hand-line, 
troll line, and long line. The troll line is most popular and efficient. As 
seerfishes are voracious, it is difficult to catch them with baits of little motion. 
x\nd as they do not come to the surface it is impossible to catch them with 
rods. Good fishing grounds lie near straits or rocky banks. The troll line 
for the common seerfish is like that for Seriola quinqueradiata. The length of 
the gear is from about 40 to 200 m or more. Generally it is 60-100 m. 
The line is tarred and on it numerous small lead sinkers are distributed. 
When the line is short the weight is heavy, but if it is long, the weight is 
comparatively light. The hook has a long shank and is angular in form. 
As seerfishes have trenchant teeth, about 20 cm of the snood is made of a 
metallic wire. 
In the tunny fishery, rod and line, hand-line, troll line, and long line are 
used. The long line is the most important. As tunnies are big and swift in 
locomotion, the gear must be thick, stout, and long. When tunnies bite the 
hook, they swim away at once furiously and irresistibly, until they are tired, 
so that the gear must be sufficiently long to allow it. Lines are generally 
made of hemp, and the lower end of the snoods at least is served with fine 
thread or wire. To the gears for the tunny, sinkers are seldom added. The 
minimum length of gear for the tunny is 200 m. The tunny long line is 
very thick, strong and 400-500 m long, coiled in a basket. Each boat 
shoots out lines of 10-15 baskets. The line is also a drift line, suspended 
at the intermediate depth by means of buoy-lines of 10-25 m. As the ground¬ 
line itself is thick and heavy, there is no need of sinkers. There are two 
kinds of gangings,—short and long. The former is ca 12 m, and the latter 
