88 GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW OF THE FISHERIES. 



smaller ones to the pot, the average weight of tbe former being 2 pounds and of the latter 1 

 pound. The fishermen in the vicinity of the city bring their catch direct to market, while those 

 living farther oft" are obliged to depend upon the smacks. 



The Portland lobster market is largely controlled by two firms, while a third does a limited 

 business. Thirteen smacks, aggregating 287.GS tons, valued at $9,575, make frequent and regular 

 visits to different portions of the coast between Cape Porpoise and the Grand Mauau and buy the 

 "count lobsters" of the fishermen, carrying them to the Portland markets. Others, though not 

 regularly employed, bring occasional cargoes to the city. The fisherman keeps his lobsters in live 

 cars until the smack arrives, when he sorts them out, those of marketable size being purchased by 

 the captain, while the smaller and soft-shelled ones are retained to be sold to the boats running to 

 the canning establishments. The time required for the round trip varies from one to two weeks, 

 according to the weather, the abundance of lobsters, and the distance traveled. The average 

 smack carries from 4,000 to 5,000 lobsters each trip ; if the well is overcrowded, many die in 

 transit, the loss in this way, especially in summer, being often very great. The price paid to 

 the fishermen ranges from three to four cents each, and the selling price in Portland averages about 

 six cents. On the arrival of the smack, the live lobsters are transferred to the cars of the dealers, 

 where they remain until needed. When an order is received for them they are taken out, boiled, 

 and packed in boxes or barrels for shipment to the trade. A few live ones are shipped to the prin- 

 cipal dealers of Boston, but this method is not usually adopted, as many are killed by the jarring 

 to which they are subjected on the train. Live lobsters are received in considerable quantities 

 from Eastport, the usual method being to pack them in barrels with a quantity of ice: when 

 carefully packed in this way they will keep from two to three days. 



As already stated, three firms are more or less interested in the lobster trade of Portland. 

 These occupy property worth $12,000, and furnish employment to nine men. According to Mr. A. 

 L. Johnson, one of the principal dealers, Portland, in 1880, handled 800,000 lobsters in number 

 These cost the dealers about six cents each, making the total cost at first hands $48,000. The 

 lobsters are variously estimated at from li to 2 pounds each; allowing them to average Impounds, 

 the total weight would be 1,400,000 pounds. Of this quantity about one-half goes to Boston, one- 

 fourth to New York, and the remainder to the country trade in Maine, New Hampshire, Massa- 

 chusetts, and Canada. 



LOBSTER-CANNING BY PORTLAND CAPITAL. Portland capitalists are more extensively 

 interested in the canning of lobsters than those of any other city in the United States. The busi- 

 ness was begun at Eastport nearly forty years ago, and three or four years later a cannery was 

 built in Boston. Before 1850 Portland people had become interested in the work, and from that 

 date they have taken the lead in the business, showing remarkable energy and judgment. At first 

 a good many lobsters were put up in the city, but as the demand increased the supply became 

 insufficient, and they were obliged to establish canneries at different points along the coast, gradually 

 increasing the number and going farther and farther from home, until to-day Portland has twelve 

 canneries on the coast of Maine, employing about 300 laborers on shore and nearly 1,000 fishermen. 



These canneries, with their fixtures, are worth $38,000, and it requires an additional capital of 

 $80,000 to carry on the business. The three firms controlling this trade are the Portland Packing 

 Company, Buruham & Merrill, and J. Winslow Jones. These firms have consulted their books 

 and furnished figures from which the following summary of the business for 1880 has been obtained: 

 4,731,088 pounds of lobsters were used, and 849,8971 one-pound and 99,371 two-pound cans were put 

 up. lu addition, 267,943 one-pound and 5,597 two-pound cans of mackerel (Scomber scombrus) were 

 packed, 510,864 pounds of round fish being required for this purpose. About 3,500 bushels of soft- 



