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seal the cans then by the machine, and they had a retort that bathed them They didn’t have to stay up at night to do that. There was quite a crowd, perhaps over twenty, which worked in the factory. They had a cookhouse as they fed the fishermen and the

factory people. They also had a bunkhouse as the fishemen slept there. (16)

Expanding upon the fisheries Act of 1825, the 1889 Act set regulations specifically for the lobster-fishing season. From West Point

1 to Cape Traverse, the season was set from the 25h of May until the 10th ,_ of August. For the rest of the Island, the season started on April 20th

and finished July 10th. By 1891, all fishermen required a license to fish ‘2 lobster.

In the early 19008, each fisherman had a boundary called a “settle berth.” According to Reggie Flynn these settle berths used the line fences

9 on the farms to gauge their boundaries when the fishermen fished “in

and out." (17) These boundaries ceased to be used in the 19205. Most of

the boats had three to five horsepower engines and were called “Lap—

streak" boats. The inshore fishery was prominent on the Island and

required only small boats. The basic design of these boats had been

developed in Newfoundland’s Grand Banks in the 18503, by schooner fleets. (18) Four to ten men were required to launch these boats using skids and rollers. These offshore boats primarily fished lobster in the summer and cod in the summer and fall. Pretty well everyone trolled until nets came along. There was a lot of work when the men fished with the offshore boats according to Michael Palmer who said, “You did a days

work before you went out fishing.” (19) David MacKinnon from Cable

Head West recalled an amusing story about the early days of fishing with Lap Boats:

There was an older fisherman on the north side. One day, as a joke, some young fells lifted his line and put a rubber boot in one of his traps. When the old fishemian discovered it, he showed everybody, and wondered aloud how such an item would get into his trap. The same group went out early the next morning, and put the boot in the same trap. When the old fishermen pulled up his traps, and saw the boot again, was annoyed, and threw the boot overboard. The third day, the boys went out early again, and put the mate of the boot in the same trap. Upon discovering it, the old lad who was a bit superstitious got spooked so badly he did not go Out fishing for the next ten days. (20)

THE LAP BOAT BUILDER

. Arthur Sanderson from Greenwich, known to friends and nelghbors as “,"Art was referred to as one of the last lap boat builders on

67