784 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Nov. 25, 1911. 
Motor Fishing Boats. 
JAPAN. 
Since the Japanese deep-sea fishing encourage¬ 
ment law was enacted last year, motor power 
has been employed to a great extent for fishing 
boats. There are at present about 600 fishing- 
boats worked by motor power and forty-one 
trawl steamers. 
Trawl fishing, which was not introduced into 
Japan until 1907, has been especially successful, 
and it is thought that by next year there will be 
eighty of these boats operating on these coasts. 
Several trawlers are being built at the Osaka 
Iron Works and other yards, while some have 
been recently purchasel in England at an esti¬ 
mated cost of $30,000 each. 
CHARACTER OF BOATS AND THEIR CATCH. 
These steamers are beam trawlers and run 
about 150 tons gross and are built in the same 
general style, size and fittings as the trawlers 
used on the east coast of England and Scotland, 
on the Dogger Bank. Their fittings, such as 
winches, many of their nets and other gear, are 
imported from England, while the boilers and 
engines are constructed in Japan. 
The boats are manned by from forty to sixty 
men according to their size. They return a profit 
of 10 to 20 per cent, per annum on the invest¬ 
ment, as there is always a large market for fish 
in this country, the Japanese being great fish 
eaters. The annual value of fish supplied by the 
Kobe fish market is given as $1,500,000, while the 
fish supplied to Kyoto and neighborhood from 
the Kobe market is valued at $750,000 United 
States currency. This does not include Osaka, 
a city of 1,250,000 inhabitants. 
All edible fish, such as codfish, tai, sea trout, 
sole and many others are selected for the mar¬ 
ket, while the non-edible varieties are used for 
fertilizer, after the oil is extracted. Where 
trawlers operate, the bottom must be free from 
rock and large boulders, otherwise the damage 
to the nets and gear would diminish the profit 
considerably. 
ENGLISH TRAWLERS FOR THE JAPANESE FISHERIES. 
The first four vessels of a fleet of modern 
steam trawlers that is being made ready at 
Grimsby for the Japanese fishing trade has just 
sailed from Grimsby for Japan. This, however, 
is only the beginning of an undertaking that has 
for its object the complete revolution of fishing 
methods in the seas around the islands of Japan. 
Altogether, it is stated, no less than about 
twenty-five British trawlers will be required by 
the company already engaged in trawling in 
Japan, for the long series of trials by a Grimsby 
trawler there has demonstrated the utility and 
resulted in the discovery of new and valuable 
fishing hanks that could not have been fished by 
the native craft. 
To prepare the way for the advent of the 
steam trawler the Japanese have for several 
years been concentrating their efforts on Grimsby. 
ENGLAND. 
There is an increasing tendency to utilize me¬ 
chanical traction on the canals in the vicinity of 
Birmingham. A firm of merchants and farmers 
employs a motor barge for carrying eggs, poul¬ 
try, vegetables, sheep and pigs between Tarde- 
bigge and Birmingham. This vessel makes the 
trip in three and one-quarter hours, and carries 
a return cargo, generally of manure, in the after¬ 
noon. 
A firm of cocoa manufacturers has placed on 
the canal two steel boats with cargo capacity of 
ten tons, having a length of 57 feet, 6 feet beam 
and a draft of 3 feet. They are fitted with 2- 
cylinder petroleum engines, driving solid pro¬ 
pellers through a reverse gear. These boats are 
intended to carry milk, etc., from Gloucester to 
Bournville. Experts, however, are inclined to 
think that the steel boat is not suitable for canals 
because of the injurious effect on the steel of 
the acids and other discharges from factories 
in the water. Gasolene-driven boats are em¬ 
ployed to some extent. 
The three large carrying companies that do 
perhaps half of the carrying on the canals around 
Birmingham show a tendency to use motor boats, 
and it is probable that they will eventually em¬ 
ploy no others, but the other half of the carry¬ 
ing is done by men who own their own boats 
and who live aboard them. They are not con¬ 
vinced of the utility of the motor-propelled boats, 
feeling that the initial expenditure is entirely too 
heavy. 
One company is considering constructing a 
150-ton motor boat to run from Bristol down 
the channel. This boat would be of 100 horse¬ 
power, and for service in the Bristol Channel it 
is necessary for it to make at least four miles an 
hour. 
While this development of motor canal trac¬ 
tion is of interest, it does not indicate any pres¬ 
ent prospect for the sale of American marine 
engines for this purpose. The preference is apt 
to be for engines using the cheaper petroleum 
instead of the comparatively costly gasolene. 
FRANCE. 
As this consulate’s recent report on motor 
boats (in Daily Consular and Trade Reports for 
Aug. 5) did not reach American exporters in 
time to get them interested in the Seine regattas, 
attention is now called to the unusual opportunity 
existing at Havre for business of this class, to 
be secured through practical demonstrations at 
the annual races of the local yacht club. 
The Havre Y. C. is the oldest in France and 
one of the most important in Europe. The ap¬ 
pearance here during the next regattas in June 
and July, 1912, of a fast high-class American 
boat, supplemented by an exhibition of engines, 
would be the best possible advertisement, and 
would afford a basis for working the entire Seine 
Valley. On account of British competition, this 
territory will not remain open much longer. Cata¬ 
logues and all other indirect efforts are totally 
useless in this market. 
Great Lakes Power Boat League. 
The second annual meeting of the Great 
Lakes Power Boat League was held Nov. 11 at 
Detroit M. B. Club house, retiring Commodore 
W. E. Scripps presided. Delegates present—H. 
D. Elliott, B. L. C.; Geo. T. Bliss, Erie Y. C.; 
P. C. Jones, M. R. Y. C.; Geo. Dietz, C. P. C.; 
R. E. Power, L. Y. C.; E. H. Croft, L. B. C.; 
H. S. Greening, R. M. Y. C.; Geo. W. Graves, 
D. M. B. C. Officers elected—C. H. O. Pook, 
R. H. Y. C., Commodore; P. C. Jones, M. R. 
Y. C., Vice-Commodore; A. Y. Gowen, L. Y. 
C., Rear-Commodore; W. F. McGiverin, R. H. 
Y. C., Secretary-Treasurer; Guy Judd, R. H. Y. 
C., Measurer; Jos. G. Murphy, R. H. Y. C., 
Fleet Captain. 
TUNA CLUB. 
Continued from page 778. 
TACKLE SPECIFICATIONS. 
Tuna and Swordfish Class—Rod to be of 
wood, consisting of a butt and tip, and to be 
not shorter than 6 feet 9 inches over all. Tip 
not less than 5 feet in length, and to weigh not 
more than 16 ounces. Line not to exceed 
standard 24-thread. 
Light Tackle Class—Rod to be of wood, con¬ 
sisting of a butt and tip, and to be not shorter 
than 6 feet over all. Butt to be not over 14 
inches in length. Tip not less than 5 feet in 
length, and to weigh not more than 6 ounces. 
Line not to exceed standard 9-thread. 
Three-Six Class—Rod to be of wood, con¬ 
sisting of a butt and tip, and to be not shorter 
than 6 feet over all. Weight of entire rod not 
to exceed 6 ounces. Butt not to be over 12 
inches in length. Line not to exceed standard 
6-thread. 
Line—The standard set by this club for the 
line to be used under its rules, is as follows: 
The line to be a standard linen line, manufac¬ 
tured solely from the grade of linen yarn known 
in the trade as “No. 50.” 
RULES. 
First—Anglers must bring fish to gaff un¬ 
aided. The fish must be reeled in. A broken 
rod, either before or after gaffing, disqualifies 
the angler. 
Second—An angler must fish with but one 
rod at a time. 
Third—All catches must be officially weighed 
and recorded. The weights officially recorded 
are final unless protest in writing is made be¬ 
fore the fish weighed is removed from the 
wharf. 
Fourth—Tackle must be exhibited with the 
fish at time of weighing. 
Fifth—Tournament is open to amateurs only. 
Sixth—Membership in the club is limited to 
men of the Caucasian race. 
Notes: a. By tip is meant that portion of 
rod from outer end of rod to point where same 
is assembled at butt, with tip fully seated. 
b. An angler is not debarred from the use of 
lighter tackle than that specified under each 
class, if tackle conforms to club specifications. 
c. Catches made on the standard 3-4-5 tackle 
are given the same recognition as to compe¬ 
titions as catches made on three-six tackle. 
A WHALE YARN. 
Capt. Albert Tutliill, of Sayville, L. I., re¬ 
turned recently from an overnight fishing trip 
in Ambrose Channel. Pie reported that he and 
the other members of the Bishop fishing party, 
out after menhaden, saw two whales so big that 
every one mistook them for two of the sub¬ 
marine boats taking part in the naval maneuvers 
in the Hudson. 
“Why,” said Capt. Tuthill, “them whales was 
as big as this here schooner, and she ain’t no 
slouch. What’s more, the whales swam about 
a big school of menhaden and kept them in a 
solid body, just as though they was doin’ it 
a-purpose to help us.” 
The captain and his mates brought in the 
biggest catch of menhaden obtained this year, 
and say it was all due to the friendly whales.— 
Times. 
