156 GEOGEAPHICAL EEVIEW OF THE FISHEEIES. 



was for many years almost abandoned by Gloucester fishermen, but about I860 it was begun anew, 

 and now a fleet of from fifty to seventy or eighty sail of vessels visit those banks for the capture 

 of cod, bringing home from 12,000,000 to 20,000,000 pounds annually. The vessels that fish 

 mostly on the Western Bank start out the earliest in the year, some of them in the month of 

 March, and fish until about October, fishing part of the time on Banquereau and bringing home 

 several fares. Those of the fleet that go to the Grand Bank usually make one or two Western 

 Bank trips first and then start on a long trip to the Grand Bank. These vessels all fish with 

 trawls and carry crews of fourteen men. The bait used is mostly fresh herring or alewivcs, though 

 in the case of the Grand Bankers some squid are used. While on the Banks sea-gulls are sometimes 

 used for bait, being called "shack bait". The men on these vessels share alike according to the 

 catch of each dory. Two men mate in each dory and count the fish as they are thrown aboard the 

 vessel. The fish are sold at so much a hundred-weight as they come from the vessel, and after 

 being landed are usually washed and then either pickle-cured or keuch-cured, most of them being 

 prepared in the former way. 



A few vessels are accustomed to fish on Banquereau with hand lines from dories, using salt 

 clams for bait. The number of Gloucester vessels that fished in this way was formerly quite large; 

 this method was abandoned a number of years ago, but in 1880 it was begun anew. Many vessels 

 belonging to other ports catch very fair trips with salt clams, but Gloucester fishermen much prefer 

 fresh bait. 



The fishery for cod on the Grrnd Bank was one of the most important in the early history of 

 New England. For many years it was not extensively carried on from Gloucester, but was engaged 

 in principally from Marblehead and other fishing ports. Just after the Revolutionary war about 

 sixty Gloucester vessels made Grand Bank trips, but the number of these fishing vessels 

 at this port rapidly declined, until in 1804 there were only about ten over 30 tons burden, most 

 of the fleet having found more profitable employment in the foreign trade. In 1819 a company 

 with $50.000 capital was organized for the purpose of reviving this fishery, and seven schooners were 

 fitted out, but after operating for three years the enterprise proved unsuccessful and was abandoned. 



The act of Congress passed in 1819, granting bounty to vessels engaged in the cod fisheries, 

 gave a stimulus to the fisheries, so that by 1828 the fishing fleet of Gloucester numbered 154 

 schooners and 08 boats. 



A notable fare in the Bank fishery was that of the British schooner Keclso which arrived 

 from the Grand Bank in October, 1S80, with about 320,000 pounds codfish and 1,COO pounds of 

 Hitched halibut. In one season, from March 8 to October 15, the Gloucester schooner Josie M. 

 Calderwood made five trips to the Western and Grand Banks, and landed 4(;0,000 pounds of codfish 

 and 55,000 pounds of halibut, making a stock of $10,475. In a single week in September, 1880, 

 fifteen fares, aggregating 2,057,000 pounds of Bank codfish, were landed at Gloucester. From a 

 fourteen weeks' trip in 1872 the schooner Ben Perley Poore landed 180,695 pounds cod and 10,597 

 pounds of halibut. 



The quantities of codfish taken by this fleet in several years past has been as follows: in 1870, 

 18,6:17,000 pounds; in 1877, 1G,SG5,000 pounds; in 1878, 12,202,500 pounds; in 1879, 13,'-'47,000 

 pounds; in 1SSO, 262 fares, 16,790,000 pounds. The receipts from this fishery in 1880, including 

 the catch of Provincial vessels landed at Gloucester, were 18,922,000 pounds. 



THE FRESH HALIBUT FISHERY. The fresh halibut fishery is almost entirely confined to 

 Gloucester, and has been found very profitable, some vessels catching over $20,000 worth in a 

 single year. In 1879 some sixty sail of vessels were at some time of the year engaged in this 

 fishery, and about forty vessels pursued the business all the year ; but in 1880 the number was 



