THE BLACKFISH AND PORPOISE FISHERIES. 



By A. HOWARD CLARK. 



1. THE BLACKFISH FISHERY. 



HISTOKT AND METHODS OF THE FISHERY. 



THE FISHERY IN NEW ENGLAND. Enormous schools of blackfish (GloMocepJialus melas)occnr 

 everywhere iu the Northwestern Atlantic, and indeed, if identical, as is supposed by many, with 

 the European species, throughout the North Atlantic. They often strand on the sandy beaches 

 of Cape Cod, and when a school of them approaches the shore they may be driven in upon tin- 

 beach with the greatest ease. In the year 1874 it is estimated that three thousand blackfish 

 were stranded on the sandy shores of Cape Cod, and smaller schools have frequently been driven 

 ashore at that cape and other places in New England, so that the entire number secured during the 

 past twenty years will reach several thousand. As there is very little expense connected with 

 their capture, the proceeds obtained from their sale is almost clear gain to the captors. Another 

 species of blackfish (<?. Scammonii) abounds in the Pacific, but is not a special object of pursuit. 



The excitement which is created in the fishing towns of Cape Cod when a school of blackfish 

 appears off the shore is illustrated by a story told by a correspondent of the Worcester Spy: 

 " There are many amusing stories told about the appearance of blackfish. On one occasion when 

 services were being held in the village church here, the minister being engaged in his sermon, 

 someone iu the street cried out, < Blackfish!' Many in the congregation heard it, and a rush 

 made for the door, when the minister cried out, ' Stop ! ' Some turned about, expecting to be 

 reproved, but the minister in his excitement only said, 'Now all take a fair start,' and joined the 

 crowd himself; and when pursuing the fish shouted out, 'Hallelujah! hallelujah!' He got his 

 share, which amounted to $25. At another time one man who had failed to put in an appearance 

 until the fish were driven iu claimed his share, as he had not heard the alarm as soon as the others. 

 A town meeting had to be called to settle the matter, and though it was a unanimous vote that 

 his share was forfeited, yet he pleaded his case so eloquently that ' half a share' was voted him." 



Capt. N. E. Atwood, of Provincetown, says that when he was a boy he used to hear his grand- 

 father talk about blackiish running ashore. His father, born in 1784, knew nothing about them, 



but when he, born in 1817, came to be a man grown, they began to come back into the bay. 



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