The Columbus journal., 1882-11-08
Fl ;heries ut Cancale.

The fishing feet of Carca:e. both for
dredging oysters and catching fish,
numbers more than 20 lugger-ribbed
craft of small tonnage. These boats are
owned partly by single Individuals.
partly by their crews, who have cl.bbc:!
together for c~opartnerShip Their
tackle and gear cost as mu,h Is III.
boats and sails; the ne :. which are
chiefly ma lie 1T Nantes, being the gre.,
item of expense The seine is nrver
used: the tra"l. viii h is i.ttei with 4
huge h~eid-bagor recepta L., lie ne he
sort of snare generally adopted E-ach
boat has a functiuui"y called Il m s.
tress:' that is. a woman who has con
tracted, under certain con ~iitions. Tor
the sale OF the take Of lh- craft The
crew have. Therefore, nothing to dO
with the disposal OF tie fish. The pro-
duca of the sale eiiec Ell br he ..miS.
tress' is general, di.iieL INTO i've
parts-twO o the owner Or owners Of
the boa il y he skipper and two to
the crew, lhe WON IL having pre- ious-
ly deducted her iryitimaie profits.
The life Of = " ,tncalai '" us
these fishermen dub themsel, es, is
one even more rife with danger
than that OF Others of tier calling.
The Bay of Mont St. Michel is one of
the most perilUus seas in the world.
E %iuinOctial tides rise in it to the height
of fifty feet, and ordinary tides to thir-
ty-ive feet The distance between high
and low water marks is more than six
miles in some places, and the rapidly
Of the currents, especially on a stormy
day. maelstrOm-like. Quicksands, too.
are numerous. and q boat shOaled on
one of them during ebb-tide has little
chance OF its crew being saved; Us re-
CARDS itself, none In calm weather
the boats fish in the shallOwest waters,
their keels occasionally heeling in the
mud; and here they take soles, turbot.
dOree, brill and skate in considerable
quantities. Government fOrbids fishing
within a miie of the shore; but SO soon
as night sets in and screens the fisher
men and their fleets from the look outs
of the steam gunbOat at Granville and
the cOast-guard sailing schooner ut
Cancale. the boats are run within the
prescribed limits. and the forbidden
fruit is tasted. Oysters are allowed
70 be taken only on certain days at
SCitSih 'hCS " ~ SC"i, Sut't "itSh
being kept by the two vessels above
mentioned, from which signa's are
made when dredging is to commence
and to cease. F shing proper. how
ever, goes on all the year. the only re-
striction. with the exception of the
fixed distance from shore. as already
mentioned, being that of mailage, or
size of the meshes of the nets. Meshes
wider by 4 fraction of al inch only,
having been ordered by the Govern
ment to be used and their use continued
for a few years. brought the population
of Cancale to the verge of starvation,
fishes that were entangled before escap-
ing now. In fact, so momentous q
question is this one of mailage among
a class of individuals who earn their
living from the depths of the sea that
candidates for State or municipal Offices
invariably promise the electors to OBJ
tain for them the privilege of smaller
meshes for the fishing nets, that prom
Use, whether carried out or not. being
the only safe "card" for securing sue
cess. Mailage is the bug-bear Of Can
calais. -Frpnch Paper.