In general, pilotage fees are fixed by statute, based on the draught of the vessel. In some cases the rates are prescribed by the local pilotage authorities and the net tonnage of the ship is a factor in determining the pilotage charges. In a number of States where pilotage is compulsory, the full rate is not charged if the services of a pilot are refused. The various statutes commonly provide that pilotage fees are to be paid by and are recoverable from the master or owners of the vessel. In addition to fees for the actual work of pilotage, the statutes of practically every State permit certain extra charges to be made to cover loss of time occasioned by detention of vessel in quaran tine or by carrying the pilot to sea when the pilot boat was ready to take him off.
The days when a large number of sailing vessels were in the pilot service off the principal ports, each vessel owned and operated independently, have given way. In 1929 at prac tically every large port in the United States all of the licensed pilots belong to an association, owning and operating one or more specially constructed steamers which are maintained on the pilotage grounds, usually at the bar. These grounds are well known to mariners, who may safely count on finding there at practically all times a pilot boat displaying the Union Jack, with a sufficient number of pilots aboard to accommodate any reasonable number of vessels seeking to enter the port.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.-For legislation on pilotage in the United States, see the Revised Statutes and the Statutes at Large of the United States, and the statutes of the several States in which pilot service is main tained, particularly Title 46, U.S. Code ; Laws of 1909, New York, Ch. 42, Sec. 56; Revised Laws of Mass., 1902, as amended ; Civil Code of 1906, California, Sec. 2036. (C. M. A.)
(Naucrates doctor), a pelagic fish of the family of horse-mackerels or Carangidae, well known to sailors from its habit of keeping company with ships and large fishes, especially sharks. It occurs in all tropical and subtropical seas, and is common in the Mediterranean. In summer pilot-fish accompany ships into port as far north as the south coast of England. It accompanies both ships and sharks on account of the supply of food which it derives from them, as does the remora (q.v.). All observers, however, agree that neither the pilot-fish nor the sucking-fish is ever attacked by the shark. The pilot attains to a length of about I2in. A sharp keel runs along the middle of each side of the tail. The teeth are small, arranged in bands. On a bluish ground-colour, five to seven dark-blue or violet cross-bands traverse the body from back to belly. The pilot-fish spawns in the open sea.