COMPARATIVE STUDY OF SCOMBROID FISHES. 
399 
shot at the surface of the sea ; but those for the mackerel aud seerfislies are 
suspended in more or less lower strata of water, by means of buoy-lines 
of some length. These nets are worked at night. Sometimes gill-nets are shot 
with both ends bent towards the school of fish and they are driven towards 
the net. When the tunny strikes the net, it yields to the movement of the 
fish, and forming a pocket passes over the float line and is hung back. Thus 
when the height of the tunny drift net is too high, the capture is not 
satisfactory. The tunny drift net is chiefly used on the Pacific coast of the 
northeastern part of Hondo. 
Seines. 
Seines for scombroid fishes are also chiefly used in the warm season. 
The size of the meshes is proportional to that of the fish to be caught ; but 
it is very small in the seine for our common seerfish, or its bunt is made of 
coarse cloth, woven with strong thread. This is to prevent the penetration of 
the jaws of the fish into the netting, lest the seine should be damaged by their 
trenchant teeth. Seines for scombroid fishes are mostly 70-85 m deep, and 
500-1000 or more long. In some of these seines the wings are made of straw 
nettings. Seines for the common seerfish are used in the Inland Sea only, and are 
hauled towards the land, while those for the other scombroid fishes are hauled 
into boats. Tunnies captured with seines are Thunnus orientalis and Neotlmnnus 
rriacr opter us. The striped bonito is sometimes captured with seines. Before the 
development of seines for tunnies and bonitos schools of fishes were surrounded with 
a long wall of net, and then the fish were scooped out with a kind of large dip-net. 
Pound-nets. 
Special pound-nets are built for the capture of Thunnus orientalis and 
Neotliunnus rnacropterus in warm seasons, when these fishes migrate northward. 
In some places pound-nets for the capture of tunnies in their southern migra¬ 
tion are erected ; but these are very few in number, and are not so important 
as the other. The pound-nets for Thunnus orientalis in their northern migra¬ 
tion are very important, and very abundant. Other scombroid fishes are also 
caught in large numbers in pound-nets ; but their time of appearance is rather 
short, or occasional, and the expenses of pound-net fishery can not be sustained 
by these fishes only. 
