_Excitement of Catching Tuna
In The Traps_
A hefty axe is the main implement of a trap-fishing crew when the tuna
run is on in Cape Cod waters. A tuna may weigh 50 to 1,000 pounds and
often a net is crowded with them. A crew of five men, operating a
50-foot boat, have their hands full when they move into the confines
of a big pole-net to take the clumsy and frantic fish. So, the
stout-handled axe is brought into play before the tuna are brought
aboard.
The killing technique is a thoroughly gory business. The axe-swinger, a
seasoned hand, rarely misses when he aims a lusty blow at the lump that
is atop the tuna’s head. One expert blow on this vital spot usually
kills the fish instantly, but, the process of maneuvering the tuna for
the kill is highly active, calling for a nimble foot and split-second
judgment. Thereon the blood flies freely and profusely.
Sometimes, in these wild jousts, a man goes overboard. Occasionally an
arm or a leg is broken during the topside excitement. But the tuna,
for all its size, does not attack. The fisherman has only to keep a
weather eye peeled to keep clear of its mighty tail.
A trapper relates an experience he had when he tried “a new way” of
dispatching a tuna. “I shoved the gaff down his mouth with everything
I had. A few minutes later I woke up in the bottom of the boat with a
big goose-egg on my head.” Another trapper was dragged overboard, gaff
and all, and the tuna towed him clear out of the trap. He let go as the
tuna dived under and escaped, gaff and all.