1. A heavy hook fastened to the end of a handle for landing fish.
2. The spar on which the top or head of a fore-and-aft sail is laced. Halyards are attached to it to hoist the sail.
3. The act of using a gaff.
1. A heavy hook fastened to the end of a handle for landing fish.
2. The spar on which the top or head of a fore-and-aft sail is laced. Halyards are attached to it to hoist the sail.
3. The act of using a gaff.
In fishing, fastening a number of hooks to the same line, creating a "gang" of hooks. Gang can also refer to the leader from the trawl line to an individual hook.
A net which captures fish of a certain size. The fish is unable to swim forward due to its size anc cannot back out due to the size of its gills.
c.1483-1538. Portuguese navigator who worked for Spain (Estêvão Gomes is the Portuguese spelling.) Piloted one of Magellan's ships on Magellan's around the world voyage in 1519, but mutinied and turned back at Cape Horn for which he was jailed on his return in 1521. Released after the survivors returned in 1522, he convinced Charles V, king of Spain, that he could find a passage through North America. Charles V was concerned about his rival and enemy Francis I of France and his navigator Verrazzano and gave Gomez full support. Gomez sailed in September of 1524. Traditional scholarship has him making the trip from north to south but more recent work indicates it was south to north, which makes more sense, wintering in Cuba (Hispaniola) and then heading north. In 1525 he coasted from Florida to Nova Scotia, returning to Spain in August. A map drawn in 1529 using the results of his voyage showed that he had sailed up into Penobscot Bay, up to what is now Bangor, as well as sighting the offshore islands,;Casco or Muscongus Bay; and the White Mountains of New Hampshire, all in June. He also kidnapped at least 58 natives for eventual sale into slavery; they were freed by Charles V, but not returned to their homeland. Gomez was killed in the West Indies in 1528.
1851-1896. Zoologist whose specialty was the natural history of fish (an ichthyologist). After joining the staff of the Smithsonian in 1877, he became Assistant Secretary of the Smithsonian in 1887. He organized a number of fisheries exhibitions and is chiefly known for his work directing and editing the 1880 fish census survey that resulted in the 7-volume publication, The Fisheries and Fishery Industries of the United States, published between 1884 and 1887.
1572-1607. English explorer who sailed to New England in 1602, arriving at and naming Cape Elizabeth, anchoring in York Harbor, then sailing down the coast. He named Cape Cod, then sailed around to Martha's Vineyard, naming it for his daughter. His party was too weak to plant a colony, so all returned. He obtained the exclusive charter that established the Virginia Company, which was to establish the Jamestown colony, and recruited its leadership. He sailed himself as vice admiral and captain of the second largest ship, Godspeed. He died four months after landing at Jamestown. A skeleton, which may be his, was uncovered in 2002. He is considered to be the prime mover of the settlement.
A large shallow area, rich in fish, located in the North Atlantic off Newfoundland. Publicized by John Cabot's voyage in 1497, this was once perhaps the world's greatest fishing grounds, with cod so thick they could be snagged in baskets, according to Cabot. The Candian portion of the Grand Banks have been closed to cod fishing as well as the cod fishery along the northern Newfoundland and Labrador coasts due to complete collapse of the Northern Cod stock.
1581-1626. English mathematician who in 1620 published trigonometric tables with logarithms. His scales, which could be used to multiply numbers using dividers, were invaluable to the seafarer who called them "Gunters." This was published in 1624 in his Description and Use of the Sector, the Crosse-Staffe and other Instruments. The Gunter scale is the basis of the slide rule.
Pronounced gun’l. The upper edge of the side or bulwark of a vessel.