Copy of `Fisheries Heritage - Fishing terms`

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Fisheries Heritage - Fishing terms
Category: Animals and Nature > Fishing
Date & country: 01/02/2014, USA
Words: 111


wharf
a wooden landing place or pier where boats may tie up and unload.

yaffle
an armful of dried or nearly dried salt fish; the amount of dried fish that could be comfortably carried under one arm. It was also used as a verb, as in to take up an armful of fish. It also had a more general usage as a verb, referring to the work of spreading, gathering and piling fish.

train house
structure on fishing premises in which cod livers, seal and whale blubber are rendered.

trim
pieces of wood, either flat or moulded, used to border openings such as windows and doors.

tub
a puncheon or barrel, sawn in half, used to hold split cod in salt.

twine house/loft/store
upper room in building, especially on fishing premises, for the storage and repair of gear.

washing tub/vat
wooden container in which salted cod are washed before drying.

sunken pound
framework of heavy logs or beams, filled with rocks, forming the crib of a wharf or tage.

strouter/stouter
one of several heavy posts placed vertically to support and strengthen the head of a fishing stage or wharf.

stud
a log roughly hewn and flattened on one or two sides and placed upright next to other such logs to form the frame of a wall of a building.

strapping
narrow, thin strips of boards used to hold materials in place, especially strapping used to hold roof felt in place.

store
a structure or area of a fishing-stage or merchant's premises in which dried cod is placed ready for collection or export; the fish store was often attached directly to the flake via a second-floor door. The second floor was often used to store fish in the summer and fall and often as a gear storage and mending area in winter and spring.

stage longer
long, thin wooden pole used as flooring. etc, of a fishing stage.

stage-head rail
one of a number of wooden poles fastened one above the other at the end of a fishing stage to form a type of ladder.

spur-shore
a stout post, often placed diagonally to support wharf, fishing-stage, etc.

squish
slanted, not aligned.

stage
an elevated platform on the shore with working tables, sheds, etc, at which fish are landed and processed for salting and drying.

stage beam
upright post supporting a fishing stage.

stage door
entrance to a fishing stage on the landward side.

stage head
end of fishing stage which extends over the water where fish is landed.

splitting table
table in a fishing stage where cod or salmon are processed before salting and drying, approximately 4' by 6' in size. There were one or two semi-circular cutouts where the splitters would work; next to these cutouts would be nailed a small strip of wood, a cleat that would be used to steady the fish as it was being split. The cutout permitted the fish to be worked at on an angle as the backbone was removed.

slipway
a sloping, wooden surface leading down to the water, from which boats are launched.

splitting stage
section of fishing premises where fish is processed. A small stage built on the water where fish were gutted, headed, and split prior to salting. Splitting stages were required in unprotected locations where sea conditions posed a threat to structures built on or near the water.

shed
a small outbuilding used primarily for storage.

shop
an outbuilding used for storage and as a workshop.

shore
a stout post set vertically or slanted in the ground to support a stage or wharf.

side span
wooden exterior brace on the side of a stage, which kept the side of the stage from breaking out when a large amount of salted fish was stored inside.

sill
a horizontal board that bears the upright beams of a wall.

skiff
a large, wooden, partly-decked boat typically used in the inshore fishery to set and haul fishing traps. They can be powered by oars, sails or engines.

screwing room
area in merchant's premises in which cod-fish are pressed in casks for export.

shears
sloping poles on which nets are hung to dry; heavy logs or shores placed crosswise as support for elevated platform or flake on which fish are dried.

sheathing
a protective or insulating cover applied to the exterior walls of a building.

salt pen/pound
wooden enclosure in which salt for curing fish is stored in fishing premises or on a vessel.

salting bin
wooden crib in which fisheries salt is stored or partially cured cod are stacked in salted layers.

salting stage/store/shed
storage building where split fish are spread in rows and salted.

scaffold
an elevated platform on which nets are placed to dry or for storage.

schooner
large, wooden sailing vessel with two or more masts.

salt house/store/shed
structure forming part of fishing premises in which salt is stored.

sail loft/room
room on a fishing premises in which sails are stored and repaired.

roofing felt/tar paper
heavy duty paper used to cover roofs. Traditionally, a protective layer of liquid tar was applied over the felt.

room
a tract or parcel of land on the waterfront of a cove or harbour from which a fishery is conducted; the stores, sheds, flakes, wharves and other facilities where the catch is landed and processed, and the crew housed.

quintal
a measure of fish, either fresh or dried, weighing 112 pounds.

rafter
sloped timbers that run parallel to one another and support the roof.

rail
a long tapering pole, undressed or trimmed on two sides, used in the construction of fish-flakes, etc; especially the poles fastened horizontally on the seaward side of a stage head.

pound board
plank used to construct wooden partitions or enclosures

premises
the waterfront stores, sheds, wharf and other facilities of a merchant or fisherman.

punt
a small, wooden, round-bottomed, open boat typically used in the inshore fishery. Usually less than 25 feet in length, they are smaller than skiffs and can be powered by oars, sails or engines.

quarter
(verb) to provide accomodations to men hired as part of a fishing crew or as fishing servants. Accomodations usually very rudimentary and often in outbuildings used for fishery related purposes.

plank
a long, flat piece of cut lumber used to cover the frame of a structure.

pit-saw
a large, two-handled saw used to cut logs into boards and planks. Two people were needed to saw, one standing above the log, sometimes on a raised platform and the other below, often in a pit.

outside stage
part of the elevated platform on the shore at which fish are landed and prepared for salting.

peg board
piece of wood with a series of holes and corresponding numbers used to record the weight of fish catches. Pegs were placed in the appropriate holes and catches were usually recorded by the quintal.

pen board
partition used to divide sections of the fish-hold.

longer/lunger
a long wooden pole placed horizontally on uprights to form the elevated surface of a drying-platform for cod-fish.

net gallows/horse
frame used to spread fish-net for drying.

net-loft
area of a fishing-stage or premises for the storing and mending of nets.

ochre
a substance composed of powdered hematite, or iron ore, mixed with some type of liquid raw material to create a rough paint. The liquid material was usually fish oil, seal oil, or sometimes linseed oil.

joist
wooden beam, laid horizontally, to support and create the frame of a floor or ceiling. Sometimes used when referring to wall studs.

labry/lavry
a narrow wooden covered walkway, often forming part of a network of passages, connecting different parts of a fishing stage.

laying-room
area where cod-fish are spread to dry.

locker
a wooden receptacle in fishing-stage where cod are placed for washing and salting after being headed, gutted and split.

loft
area of a fishing-stage for storing dried cod and fishing gear. Often the site of gear repairs during the winter months.

head
the seaward end of a fishing-stage or wharf; the top portion of a fish net; funnel-shaped netting through which lobster enters trap; to remove the head of a cod-fish

heading hole
a chute located under the splitting table, placed so as people working around the table could quickly kick the fish head or guts out of the stage through the hole at their feet.

hodge
one of the heavy beams used as a support in constructing a stage or wharf.

inside stage
shed on a fishing stage where split cod-fish are salted and piled.

hand-tub (handle-bar tub)
wooden hand-barrow with two handles between which a tub was fitted and carried by two people. They were usually constructed from shallop's tubs -- see below. Used mainly for carrying round or green fish, and sometimes used for carrying fish manure to the gardens.

gump head
stout wooden pile protruding above a wharf to which vessels may be moored; similar mooring-post aboard a vessel; bollard, cleat.

hand flake
lightly-constructed platform, about four feet above ground level, used to spread and dry cod-fish.

floater fishery
migratory, schooner based fishery once common along the north-eastern coast of Newfoundland and the Labrador Coast.

floor/flooring
the horizontal surface of a fish-flake, especially the thin poles resting on the vertical shores and covered with boughs.

gable
the triangular end of a wall above the eaves with a peak roof.

gallery
part of a fishing stage where the catch is landed on its way to the stage head.

flaking stick
wooden pole used in the construction of a drying platform for cod-fish.

flake bough
the branch of a spruce or fir tree spread on the flake to permit air to circulate under the drying fish.

flake bar
length of wood used in the construction of a drying-platform for cod.

flake beam
wooden pole placed horizontally to support the platform of a drying-flake.

fish pound
wooden compartment, or container, in which cod are placed during the curing process.

fish-box
wooden receptacle in fishing stage where cod are placed for washing and salting after being headed, gutted and split.

fish-cask
a type of wooden barrel for the export of dried and salted cod.

fishing station
a fishing cove or harbour where a fishing crew or crews set up fishing rooms (stages, flakes, etc.,) to prosecute the fishery. A fishing station was generally a locale travelled to and fished from on a seasonal basis

fish pen
wooden bin for salting cod in a fishing-stage.

fish house/room
(a) a small building for storing dried and salted cod; (b) a movable box-like structure to cover piled cod-fish, also called fish top.

fish drum
a cylindrical wooden container in which dried cod are packed for shipment;

faggot
a triangular stack of split and salted cod-fish constructed in the early drying phase. As fish got progressively drier, faggots increased in size from a few fish to a sizable pile.

fish barrel
wooden container for a designated quantity of cod-fish.

fish barrow
a flat, rectangular wooden frame with handles at each end for two men to carry cod-fish.

facade
any exterior side of a building.

dory
a small, wooden flat-bottomed boat with flaring sides. Dories are very stable in the water and were often used to help set and haul traps. They were also widely used when fishing with hand-lines and trawls.

cross-bar
horizontal timber nailed to the side of a fishing stage.

culling board
plank, or wooden table, on which dried and salted cod-fish is placed for sorting and grading.

dipping tub
wooden container in which cod are immersed in water after being headed, gutted and split.

cropping shed
store on a merchant's premises in which items of personal equipment for sealing voyage are distributed.

cook room
the galley on board a ship; a large building forming part of fishing premises or room in which food is prepared and the crew accommodated.

corner board
board used to finish the corner of a building.

corner post
a post used to support the sills that form a corner of a building

cribbing
a frame or crib of logs, secured under water to form a pier, or support for a stage or stage head.

clapboard
a long narrow board with one edge thicker than the other, overlapped horizontally to cover the outer walls of frame structures.

come-along
a gripping device used to move, lift or stabilize heavy objects.

community stage
waterfront facilities to serve the common needs of fishermen in a settlement for the landing and handling of the catch.