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Page 28
The second method of taking the bream is by long lining; fifty of the
lines we have just described being bent together and duly anchored and
buoyed. Spaniards do not much care for this way of fishing, as it is
costly in bait and the gear is often lost in bad weather. Bream sells
at about 3�d. a pound. Cod are taken during the first six months of
the year, about 9 miles off shore, by hand lines. Sold fresh the price
is about 6_d._ per lb. A small quantity is preserved in tins. Anchovy or
cuttlefish is the bait used; sometimes the two are placed on one hook.
A smaller description of boat, called traineras, is built especially
for taking sardine and anchovy, although in fine weather they often
engage in the same fishery as the larger boats. The traineras are
light and shapely vessels, with a graceful sheer and curved stem and
stern posts. The keel is much cambered, and the bottom is flat and has
considerable hollow. The usual dimensions vary between: Length, 38
feet to 42 feet; beam, 7 feet to 7 feet 6 inches; depth, 2 feet 6
inches to 2 feet 10 inches. The sails and gear are much the same as in
the larger boats, excepting that there are only four shifts in place
of six. The largest main lug has an area of about 90 square yards and
the fore lug about 50 square yards. The other sails for heavier
weather are naturally smaller. The largest masts for fine weather are
respectively 36 feet and 22 feet, long. The average cost of one of
these boats and gear is about �122, made up as follows: Hull, �32;
sails, gear, and oars, �30; nets and gear attached, �60. The season
for anchovy fishing commences on the 1st of March and ends 30th of
June; it begins again on the 15th of September, and continues until
the end of the year. Most fish are taken at a distance of about 9
miles from the land, although they often come in much closer.
Anchovies are sold fresh, or are salted to be sent away, some are used
for bait, and in times of great plenty quantities are put on the land
for manure. The greater part are, however, preserved in barrels or
tins, and are exported to France or England.
The net used in the capture of anchovies is called _traina_ or _copo_.
It is in principle like the celebrated purse seine of the United
States, but in place of being 200 fathoms long, as are many of the
nets, which, in American waters, will inclose a whole school of
mackerel, it is but 32 to 40 fathoms long. The depth is 7 to 10
fathoms, and the mesh � inch. Sardine fishing commences on the 1st of
July and lasts until December. The principal ground is 2 to 10 miles
off shore. The price of sardines on the coast is about 2�d. per pound.
When the sardines appear in shoals they are taken with the traina in
the same way as anchovies, a net of �-inch mesh being used. Sardines
are also taken by gill nets about 200 feet long and 18 feet wide. When
used in the daytime the fish are tolled up by a bait consisting of the
liver of cod. When the sardines have been attracted to the
neighborhood of the net, bait is thrown on the other side of it. The
fish in their rush for the bait become entangled in the mesh. These
nets are sometimes anchored out all night, in which case no bait is
used.
A third class of boats of much the same character are of about the
following dimensions: Length, 28 feet to 35 feet; beam, 7 feet 6
inches to 8 feet; depth, 2 feet 6 inches to 2 feet 8 inches. The two
lugs will contain 16 and 30 square yards of canvas respectively. They
are used for sardine catching, when they will carry a crew of four
men, or for taking conger and cod, in which case they will be manned
by eight hands.
Their cost will average approximately as follows: Hull, �15; gear and
sail, �10; nets and lines, �13; about �40. The conger season extends
from March to June, and from October to November. The fish are taken
by hook and line; sardine and fish known as berdel (which in turn is
taken by a hook covered with a feather) are used as bait.
There are other smaller fishing boats, among which may be noticed the
_bateler_, a powerful little vessel, 13 feet to 16 ft. long, about 5�
ft. wide, and 2 ft. deep. They are sailed by one man, set a good
spread of canvas, and are fast and handy. They are used for taking a
species of cuttlefish which supplies a bait, and is caught by hook and
line, the fishes being attracted by colored threads, at which they
rush, when the hook will catch in their tentacles. There is a small
well in the middle of the boat for keeping the fish alive. None of the
boats on the northern coast of Spain carry ballast. They have flat
hollow floors, and set a large area of of canvas on a shallow draught.
Lobster fishing is pursued in much the same manner as in England, but
often four or five miles from land, and in very deep water.
One of the most noticeable objects in the Spanish court was a
full-sized boat about 25 ft. long, which had a square hole cut in the
bottom amidships. Through this hole was let down a glass frame in
which was placed a powerful paraffine lamp. The object of this was to
attract the fish. It is said that tunny will be drawn from a distance
of over a hundred yards, and will follow the boat so that they may be
enticed into the nets. Sardines and other fish will follow the light
in shoals. It is claimed that the boat will be useful in diving
operations, for pearl or coral fishing, or for ascertaining the
direction of submarine currents, which can be seen at night by a lamp
to a depth to 25 to 30 fathoms.--_Engineering_.
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