MOVKMKNTS i)K THE HADDOCK. L>2."> 



ning of .Time, and from October to the middle or end of January , a winter recess being allowed for 

 tin- purpose of .spawning. It is stated by Dr. Wittmack that during tin- heat of summer they 

 retreat from these coasts, with the Cod and the. flounder, into the deepest waters, appearing again 

 towards the end of September. On the coast of Scotland they arc said to be most abundant in 

 winter. In Massachusetts Bay, as it has been said, they are most abundant in summer, coming 

 in after the cod pass out, though they are also taken iu deeper parts of the bay the whole winter 

 long, and are sought at this season ou George's and other off-shore banks as well as localities 

 farther to the north. 



A study of such data as these is unsatisfactory iu the extreme, since it is impossible to draw 

 i'roin them any conclusions concerning the relation of the movements of the Haddock to the tem- 

 perature of the water in which it is found. The only movements which are now intelligible an- 

 those which take place at the period of spawning. 



ABUNDANCE. Remarkable variations in tbe abundance of this fish are upon record; at certain 

 times they have been exceedingly rare, at others abundant in the extreme. They appear to be 

 much more gregarious than the Codfish, and to swiui together in large schools from place to p'ace. 

 Storer, writing in 1839, said that they were common about Cape Cod, but that ten years before they 

 had been rare. An item in the "Gloucester Telegraph," June 3, l.s:'.7, stated that Haddock were 

 at that time brought iu abundantly and sold from the Swampscott boats at a cent apiece. 



According to Capt. E. W. Merchant, in the years from 1814 to 1820 there was a great catch in 

 the vicinity of Nahant, about five miles at sea, east-southeast. So plenty were, they that two men 

 and one boy could catch with hand-lines from one boat GOO to 1,000 in number in one day. This 

 school of fish caine iu about the 20th of March and continued until the first of May, then grad- 

 ually decreased and spread over the. fishing banks in Massachusetts Bay. At this time the 

 majority of the boats belonged to Sandy Bay, now Rockport, and to Gloucester. 



Capt. King Harding, of Swampscott, tells me that in 1843 Haddock were so scarce that they 

 were sold singly. The fishermen received twenty-five cents each for all they could get. A vessel 

 could not get more than one hundred in the course of a day's fishing. 



At this time Isaac Rich & Co. chartered the schooner " Harriet," of Duxbury, to go out ou a 

 special cruise for Haddock, paying 1200 toward the venture. She started out with a crew of five 

 men about the 20th of February, and fished on soft bottom in the deepest water. Her fare was 

 two hundred and twenty Haddock, and the trip was considered a remarkable success. 



In May of the next year great schools of little Haddock came in. They were six or eight 

 inches long and a great bother to the fishermen. The following year they were about half grown, 

 or a foot or so in length and very thick. They came in May. 



In 1846 they came in earlier, many iu March, but, mostly in May. They were quite large and 

 very abundant. 



Haddock were also very abundant in 1857. On the 13th of March one hundred Swampscott 

 fishermen, in twelve vessels, caught in a period of about six hours 160,000 pounds of fish, chiefly 

 Haddock. 1 



In 1877 aid 1878 the Haddock were very large and quite scarce. In the winter of 1S77 and 

 1878 they were larger than for many years. Some were caught near Swampscott which weighed 

 fifteen and sixteen pounds. The average size is from four to six pounds. 



Captain Atwood states that in 1834 Haddock were very scarce on the Grand Bank, and few were 

 caught anywhere on the coast, but in 1840 they became so numerous aboutCapeCod as to interfere 

 seriously with the cod fishery, devouring the bait before the Cod could reach it, and about 



1 I/KWIS: History of Lynn, (i. If.n. 

 15 F 



