US124635A - Improvement in fishing-seines - Google Patents

Description

Improvement in Fishing Seines. 124,635.

HENRY SMITH, on SALEM, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENTv IN FISHING=SEINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 124,635, dated March 12, 1872.

Specification of an Improved FishingSeine, invented by HENRY SMITH, of Salem, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts.

The purse-seine, so called, now in comn mon use, is a single sheet ot' netting some iifty fatholns long by twenty fathoms wide, more or less, having buoys on one edge and weights upon the opposite edge, by which it is sunk edgewise into the water, the weights uponone edge and the iloats or buoys upon the other tending to keep it in nearly a vertical position in the water, it being extended to its greatest length in nearly a straight lille by means ot' lines from either end, which are operated for the purpose by the boats crew. Other lines, running through the bottom edge are operatf ed at the proper time to purse up the lower part of the sheet of netting into a sort'of pocket to prevent the fish from darting or diving below the edge ot' the seine and escaping, as is often the case in mackerel rishin g.

In shing with large seines the process of parsing the seine is necessarily a slow one, and it often happens th at a large part of and sometimes the whole school escape before it can be accomplished, in which case the labor has all to be done over again.' To remedy the difficulty just mentioned is the object of my invention; and it consists in constructing the seine in the form of a bag, having a bottom, around which are secured weights for sinking the sa-me to the proper depth, the upper edge or mouth of the bag being provided with buoys or floats around at least one-halt' its circumference, while the other .portion thereof is p rovided'with weights, by which it may be sunk to the proper depth--say rive fathoms, more or less-to allow the school of iish to pass over it, so that when they touch the other side of the bag-seine and dart downward they cannot escape until they rise again to pass over the sunken edge of .the bag. It also consistsin a peculiar arrangement of lines by which the two parts or sides of the bagare separated, the mouth and bottom ofthe seine is expanded, and the sunken side is raised to the sur face of the water when the school ot" fish are fairly in the toils.

In the drawing, Figure 1 is a plan showing the seine and arrangement ot lines and boats for operating the same when the Seine has just been sunk. Fig. 2 is a plan of the same with the seine expanded; and Fig. 3 is an elevation ot' the same, showing a portion ot' the front side sunk preparatory to receiving a school of iish.

A is the back, and A the front side of the seine, the same being united at their ends to the vertical cords a a. B is the bottom united to the sides by means ot' the cord b, on which are secured at intervals the weights c c, for the purpose of sinkin g the seine. Around the top or mouth ofthe seine is run the cord 0l, on which are secured the buoys or ioats c e e and the weights ff. At each end ofthe seine the lines g g are attached to the cord d, and..ex tend to the boats h h, where the slack or middle portion is coiled away, the opposite end of the same lines being secured to the front side of the seine near the weights fj', and lead to the boats h h, as shown at t' i. Another line, fi t', is secured to the cord d between the weightsff, the other end of which is secured to the line t' at a suitable point between the attachment ot' the line i to the seine and the boat with considerable slack therein. To the cord d. on the back side of the seine are Secured the lines j j, which lead thence to the boats h h', where they are secured and are operated for the purpose of opening the mouth ofthe seine, as shown in Fig. 2. The lines lc k, one end ot' each of which is secured to the cord b in the bottom and leads to the boats It h', are used to expand the bottom or to hold the two sides A and A apart at the bottom to give space for the sh, as also shown in Fig. 2.

The operation of my improved seine is as follows: The seine is sunk into the water near ly in a vertical line, and extended in nearly a straight line between the boats h 7L, as shown in Fig. l, in which position it is maintained by the lines g g, until it is placed in the right position to receive the school ot' fish when the lines jj and k k are hauled in by the men in the boats It It', and the two sides of the Seine are separated, as shown in Fig. 2. The back side is held up even with the surface of the water by the floats or buoys c e e, lwhile a portion of the front side is made to sink to a suitable depth to allow the tish to pass over, as shown inFig. 3. \'Vhen the tish have passed over the sunken front side the lines t' z' are drawn in by the nien in the boats h h raising the weights f f until the lines i 'i' reach the boats, when the slaelr in them is drawn in raising the front side to the surface of the Water when the ish are securely inclosed in a. bag net from which which there is no escape.

I do not claim, broadly, a seine made in the form of a bag-net, for I am aware that sueh have been used before; but

Wha-t I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is as follows:

l. A seine made in the form of a bag, and havin g the Heats e e and Weights ff secured thereto around its mouth, in such a manner that a portion of the mouth ofthe bag` may be sunk below the surface of the Water by the Weights, While the remaining` port-ion is kept even with the surface of the water bythe iioats, substantially as described.

2. In combination with a seine made in theforrn of a bag and provided with the buoys e e and Weights f f, the lines j 7' for opening` the mouth ofthe seine, substantially as described.

3. In combination with a seine made in the form of a bag, the lines k 7c, for expanding the bottom, substantially as described.

4. In combination with a seine made in the form of a bag and provided with the weights f f and the ioats e e, the lines i t' and z" i', for the purpose of raising the sunken side of the seine, substantially as described.

Executed at Boston this 18th day of November, 1871.

HENRY SMITH. Witnesses:

N. C. LOMBARD, DVID T. PRAY.

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