The Yale expositor., 1909-10-29

blind obedience to the inherited in
stinct of their race.
The great product of Labrador is Its
fisheries. Strip if of its marine prod
ucts and you have left nothing but
mosquitoes and a barren waste. In its
fisheries, which amount annually tc
many hundreds of thousands of dol
| lars, 1t is easy to see what has been
the bone of contention in the past
years between England, France and
the United States The business of
catching fish is carried on for the
most part by the large and enterpris-
ing houses of England, with their
branch offices in Newfoundland. Each
house has its dependents whom it fur
nishes in the spring with food, ap.
paratus and boats necessary to OBJ
tain catch. In the fall the accounts
are settled. If the season has been
remunerative one the house obtains
an ample return for it's investment; !;
but if, as often it happens, the season
has been for some reason an unprofit.
able one, the house stands it's loss, pa
tiently looking to another year to re.
ihburse it for its previous unprofita-
bic outlay Little money ever passes
into the hands of the catchers of cod.
1t is a matter of barter wholly, and
the balance of credit is always on the
side of the house. Yet. with it's mani
fest disadvantages, the system is a
great practical help to the fisherman
himself, since it frees him from direct
competition in the open markets and
guarantees him home and means Of
support, which if left to himself he
might often Jack
The method of catching fish differs
from that employed by any other peo-
pie except the Scandinavians. 1t was
introduced from the Norwegian coast
over 20 years ago and first put into
operation off the shores of Newfound-
land near st. Johns. There it was
so successful that trap fishing is now
employed along the whole Labrador
coast. The trap consists of an inn
mense well, built in the form of
square, measuring eight fathoms to
side. These sides. which are made
bottom by a flooring Of netting, the
whole extending from the buoys at the
surface to very near the bottom. From
the square inclosure thus made a net
is sprung to the shore, where it is
fastened, generally at the foot of some
perpendicular cliff. to serve the pur-
pose of a leader. The fish in their
passage to and from the harbor en-
counter this leader, and in trying to
pass around it enter the tran. which
they try in vain to leave. The aver
age number of fish captured at one
haul of the trap is SO quintals in a
good season, and as two hauls are
made in a day the profits are large.
especially when the fish sell, as dur
ing the last season, at from $3.50 to
"a a quintal.
The method of pulling the trap is
interesting. A large boat, capable of
carrying 40 quintals of fish and
manned by six hands, is moored to
one corner of the trap and the work
of undermining begun, the object be-
ing to force the fish into one corner
that they may the more easily be
transferred to the boat by the dipnet.
Beginning at this corner, the bottom
and sides of the net are pulled gradu.
ally to the sides of the boat, as each
new hold reaches the gunwale the
preceding one being let go. In this
way the fish are gradually forced into
the corner. from which they are trans.
ferred to the boat. Oftentimes the sag
of the net becomes caught on the bot.
tom of the boat, which is then literally
aground on the shoal of Goldfish.
When the catch is too large for the
boat to carry to the cleaning house
bag is fastened to the top line of the
net and the fish forced into II. where
they remain till the next day, when
they are taken at a special trip. A
well-equipped trap costs S40O. and
when badly torn or, as is sometimes
the case in a storm. lost altogether.
necessitates an additional hardship
on the unfortunate owner.