INTRODUCTION, 17
Seine-netting is rarely used on our coast, except
for Garfish, Whitebait, or Smelts.
A form of fishing practised principally on the shores
of the Blackwater, by which large numbers of Codling,
Mullett, and other fish are sometimes caught, is known
as "petering," or "peter-netting." A peter-net con-
sists of a net about twenty fathoms long and ten feet
wide, with corks on the head-rope and leads on the
ground rope. The head-rope is brought over the
ground-rope by folding the net longitudinally, and then
fixing it there by lashings about three feet long. To
use the peter-net, a boat is rowed at high tide to some
suitable place on the shore. One end of the net is
then cast over in from six to thirty feet of water,
having an anchor attached, and a buoy to mark the
spot. The boat is rowed parallel to the shore,
and the net is payed out so that its open part is
towards the beach. When the end is reached another
anchor and buoy is attached and thrown over, as at
the opposite extremity. The fishermen now row about
between the net and the shore, trailing a piece of chain
or something of that kind, in order to startle the fish,
who, in their endeavours to reach deeper water, run
into the net. When sufficient splashing about has
been made, one end of the net is drawn up, and
traction being made on the ground- and head-ropes,
the mouth is closed. The captive fish are then
3