The Irish Penny Journal, Vol. 1 No. 49, June 5, 1841Various
History
The Irish Penny Journal, Vol. 1 No. 49, June 5, 1841
Various
Ireland -- Periodicals
We come now to the home fishery, in which Yarmouth takes the lead in
the size of vessels and magnitude of tackle employed. The fishing is
carried on by the Yarmouth men in decked vessels called “luggers,”
from 20 to 50 tons burthen, having three masts, and rigged with three
lugsails, topsails, mizou, foresail, and jib: the crew of the largest
consisting of twelve men and a boy, who are paid according to the
quantity of fish caught. Each ordinary vessel carries two hundred nets
of 48 feet in length and 30 in depth, each having meshes of 1 inch or
1⅛ inch, as usual in herring nets. Of these nets they shoot one hundred
at a time, reserving the other hundred for cases of accident or mishap.
When launched, each net is attached by two seizings of 1½ inch rope,
having a depth of 18 feet, to a four-stranded (generally 4 inch) warp of
3600 feet in length; this warp is made fast to a rope from the bow of
the vessel, which in stormy weather can be let out to ease the strain,
to the extent of 100 fathoms, or 600 feet. For each net there are two
buoys (4-gallon barrels) made fast to the warp, and there are four buoys
besides, to mark the distances, two for the quarter and three-quarter
stations, painted red and white quarterly, one for the half distance or
middle of the fleet, painted half red and half white, and one for the
extremity, painted all white; each of them has painted on it the names of
the ship, master, owner, and port, in order that they may be restored in
case of breaking away during bad weather; and so good an understanding
exists upon this subject amongst the fishermen, that the nets are always
restored by the finder to the owner upon payment of only 1s. for each
net; and no one must suffer a stray net to drift away; if seen, it must
be taken in. This fishery commences in the beginning of October, and
lasts little more than two months. The nets are shot after the Dutch
fashion, at sunset; but if the appearances are favourable, they are taken
in once or twice during the night, and again at sunrise. 100 barrels of
herrings are frequently taken by these nets at a single haul, and 600
barrels may be considered as a fair average fishing for one vessel during
the season. The number of decked vessels employed at Yarmouth alone in
the fishery is about 500.
Next, and likely from its steady increase soon to become the first, is
the Scotch fishery.
Like the Norwegian, every description of boat and net is to be found
employed amongst the Scottish islands, but the most regularly employed
vessels are open undecked boats, of 28 to 32 feet in length, or
thereabouts, and 9 to 11 feet in breadth, usually rigged with two masts
and two sails. They have on board from twelve to thirty nets of from 150
to 186 feet in length each, and from 20 to 31 feet in depth.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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