A DAY'S TRAWLING IN BLUESKIN BAY

Press, Volume LXXV, Issue 22906, 30 December 1939, Page 13

A DAY'S TRAWLING IN BLUESKIN BAY

THE time is just breaking day, we are aboard the research launch at. the Portobello marine research station, fully equipped with trawling gear; we are protected from the bad weather by thigh gum boots and overalls and by oilskin aprons to protect us from wet and dripping fish. We pan the powder magazine and Pulling Point, then zigzag about the channel till we reach Harrington Point; then we pass the Mole and head in a nor’westerly direction to Blueskin Bay —our objective. While we have been steaming along, my experienced mate has been busy preparing the otter trawl ready to shoot as soon as we are in the trawling grounds. The day is fine, there is a slight roll from the south which makes things lively and we spend much time in bracing ourselves when the launch rides the waves. Squealing mollymauks fly about us, dipping their wings on the water and passing on as though saluting us and giving us the hint that they too need feeding. Their sharp eyes tell them that it is yet ,too early for waste fish to be thrown out, so they pass on to other possible feeding grounds. These birds look truly majestic with their perfectly white body and head, contrasting with jet-black wings and backs. The mollymauk seldom dives, generally preferring to catch its food before it sinks, or, if it sinks, to let a gull or petrel fetch it up. Woe betide the bird that has dived for the fish, the Molly soon gives chase, flying along the top of the water with wide outstretched wings, compelling the bird to drop its prey, which is seized before it sinks.

The trawl boards, now ready, are fitted with heavy iron shoes; this is to allow these boards to glide over the floor of the ocean on their edge. The' doors .are fitted with iron brackets and chains and to one part of the board is fitted a wire rope and to the other end the net; the lead linear foot rope is attached to the bottom of the trawl board, while

(SPECIAtiT WHITTEN FOB THE PBESS.)

[By DAVID H. GRAHAM, F.R.M.S., F.Z.S.]

mouth until an equilibrium point is reached and the mouth of the net is stretched agape. The boards and net are dragged along the sea bottom at the rate of about two miles an hour. The resistance of the water causes the two doors to pull away from each other, each door acting like a boy’s kite. The great pointed bag is dragged slowly round and round in a large circle along the bottom of the ocean. The net has been down an hour and wernow make ready to haul it on board. The winch is coupled with the engine and the w.ires rattle up and up and over the pulleys and rollers on to the drums; the winch groans and the engine is feeling the strain. Soon the trawl boards appear and are made fast to the davits. My mate grasps the chain line and the cork line and works towards midships, until we are both heaving together. Ah-up! Ah-up! he sings and ah-up the loose net comes, both of us hauling shrewdly as the swell of the tide lifts the net. A white patch of fish is seen under the surface of the water; that is the catch, nicely bagged in the net. The end of the net, really the middle, which forms the bag and which is known as the cod-end, is held together by the co-' line. A noosed rope is now made fast round the cod end, through the block and tackle, and we attempt to haul the mass of fish over the side. We pull and we struggle while buffeted about the cockpit by the action of the waves. The weight of fish in the net attached to the block and tackle seems to give the small research launch greater moving power and to liken us to ninepins being bowled over. We now take turn about to reach down and release some of the fish. This is a most awkward and tricky job, for to put one’s head down level with the net and water that is never still and to pull fish out makes the feeling of squeamishness most perfect. Up and down we go complaining of our heavy catch. While we are trying to haul in the catch, the launch seems to be a cross between a wild mustang and a merry-go-round, and my mate and I are nothing short of acrobats, trying to keep our feet on a wet deck. After releasing many fish we are able to

silvery terakihi, moki, an odd barracouta, a kingfish or two and of’ course lemon • and common soles. v

There are silvery and white ele-r phant fish, so named from the snoutlike appendage, and hermit crabs are crawling about trundling their shells in a most ludicrous manner. Finding no water they frequently leave their shelly homes and are soon squashed under foot. Baby octopuses arrive from almost nowhere, and it is seen that they too have made temporary homes of empty shells and emerge to see why there is no water round them. They are curious creatures no more than two or three inches in length. Sudden rushes of brown to livid blue are seen on their bodies when they are handled and popped into a jar to take back to the research aquarium. Young soles, flounders, and brill are thrown back into the sea. but unfortunately many of these immature fish frequently become the prey of sea birds before they sink out of danger. Then we find pieces of wood, old bottles, boots, and even teapots with barnacles attached, making a curious feature of the catch. As the launch rolls about so the living mass slithers about and presents different pictures of .the catch: an exhibition of soles flapping their last and ling giving a feeble slap with their slimy tails; spined and smooth dogfish let fly and jump about at our feet; sea horses with their prehensile tails are found holding on to weed and placed in tins of water to take to the aquarium. The most peculiar find of the day is a three-inch long flounder without a tail. The perfect symmetry and completeness of the fin rays prove beyond doubt its abnormalityStrange looking shrimps are found in abundance, some with eggs attached to theii 4 bodies; and crabs of all sizes and. species crawl about. To sort our fish into heaps for tabulating and recording the length and weight is part of the day’s work. The stomachs are all kept and give weeks of work sorting and identifying the food specimens. We now consider hauling m the second, trawl. The winding qf the winches, the pop pop of the engines are accompanied by the shrieks of noisy birds that seem to come from