26 GEOGRAPHICAL BE VIEW OF THE FISHERIES. 



while the remainder is dried for local use. Twenty-four men fish for lobsters from April to 

 August, selling their catch to the lobster cannery that was built in the lower part of the town in 

 the spring of 1879. Four brush weirs are fished by the people of Addison for herring, mackerel, 

 flounders, and smelt. The catch in 1880 amounted to 350 hogsheads of herring and 340 barrels of 

 mackerel, in addition to a quantity of refuse fish that was used for lobster bait. There are two 

 smoke-houses, in which a few herring are cured each season; the quantity for 1S80 amounted to 

 3,200 boxes. 



HARRINGTON. Harrington, which includes the coast-line between Millbridge and Addisou, is 

 a town of 1,280 inhabitants. Its shores are very irregular, being cut up by numerous bays, the 

 principal ones being Pleasant Bay, Harrington River, and Flat Bay, each separated from the other 

 by long but narrow peninsulas. There are two post-offices in the town. The larger, called Har- 

 rington, is a village of COO inhabitants at the head of navigation of Harrington River. Formerly 

 there was considerable ship-building at this place, but for several years nothing has been done in 

 that line. The other post-office, called West Harrington, is an agricultural district, with no village 

 worthy of note. Most of the inhabitants are interested in farming, while the remainder "follow 

 the sea" during the greater part of the year. 



The fisheries of the town are of little importance, as there are no vessels engaged in the business, 

 and no boats going regularly to the shore fishing grounds. Nine men pursue lobsters during the 

 season, selling their catch to the Gouldsboro' and Addison canneries. These men fish occasionally 

 with hand lines near the shore, catching cod, haddock, and hake for family use and for sale in the 

 neighborhood. 



There are three brush weirs, two being fished for smelt (Osmerus mordajc) and other anadromous 

 species, while the third takes a small quantity of herring, flounders, and mackerel, the greater 

 part being used for lobster bait and as a fertilizer. Two men engage in clamming, selling about 

 GOO bushels yearly to the local trade. 



MILLBRIDGE. Millbridge was set oft'fiom Harrington and incorporated as a separate town in 

 1848. It had at that time about 1,100 inhabitants. In 1870 its population had increased to 1,558. 

 The town forms the shore-line between Harrington and Steuben, and is divided by the Narragnagus 

 River. It has a thriving village of nearly 1,000 inhabitants, extensively engaged in coasting and 

 ship-building. 



Millbridge has never been engaged in the offshore fisheries, and only to a limited extent in 

 boat fishing, aside from that for herring and lobsters. Its people, in common with those of Steuben, 

 are more or less interested in the herring fisheries, and, according to Mr. Sanborn, an old resident 

 of the place, the first herring weir was built just opposite the village about 1820. From that date 

 the business increased very slowly up to 1850, when parties came from Lubec and built large smoke- 

 houses and presses for utilizing the catch. The fishery was at its height between 1158 and 1863, 

 when 12 weirs were fished regularly and 75,000 to 100,000 boxes of herring were smoked annually. 

 Many herring were pressed for their oil, the pomace being used locally as a fertilizer. None have 

 been pressed since 1870, and the trade in smoked heiring also gradually declined, until in 18SO only 

 500 boxes were put up. Though large herring are abundant on the spawning-grounds, a few miles 

 of the village, and many vessels from other places catch large numbers of them, none of the local 

 fishermen have provided themselves with nets for their capture, and for several years the weirs 

 have been fished simply to secure bait for the lobster-men and to obtain manure for the land. 



In the fall of 1880 Eastport parties decided to build a sardine cannery at Millbridge for the 

 purpose of utilizing the small herring that are said to be abundant. It is purposed to have it in 



