MASSACHUSETTS AND ITS FISHERIES. 117 



The total amount of mackerel inspected in Massachusetts from 1808 to 1880 was about 12,120,000 

 barrels, more than one-fourth of which were packed in Gloucester. The largest amounted inspected 

 in any single year was 383,058 barrels in 1831. The only other years in which the inspection 

 exceeded 300,000 barrels were 1830, 1848, 1851, 18G3, and 1870. This fishery in 1851 was distrib- 

 uted among a large number of fishing ports in the State, but like the cod and other fisheries is now 

 centered in a few leading ports. 



The fresh-halibut fishery has always had its headquarters at Gloucester. It began about the 

 year 1830, by the visit of vessels to George's Banks. In 1844, the fleet at this port numbered 30 

 sail; in 1848, 03 sail; and in 1852, 75 sail. The value of halibut taken in 1851 was about $00,000. 

 The fleet in 1879 numbered about 50 sail, and the receipts at Gloucester were worth to the fish- 

 ermen upwards of $309,000. 



The fishery for cod on George's, Western, and Grand Banks has been of first importance to 

 Massachusetts, and has employed large fleets of vessels and thousands of men. The Grand Bank 

 fishing has been prosecuted from Marblehead, Gloucester, and other ports for over 200 years, and 

 trips were made to George's, by Marblehead vessels, as early as 1748. At that time the vessels 

 were not generally anchored on George's, but drifted about while fishing. Gloucester vessels in 

 1821 are said to have been the first to anchor on this bank and to begin the active prosecution of 

 a fishery that yields the best of cod, and which for many years has annually employed from 100 to 

 200 sail of vessels. 



The oyster industry of the State in 1879 employed 890 persons, and a capital of $303,175. The 

 value of this industry includes $41,800 worth of native oysters and $303,750 enhancement in the 

 value of oysters brought from the South and transplanted in this region. 



The menhaden fishery in the same year employed 271 persons, and a capital of $179,105. The 

 value of the products, including $20,477 worth of menhaden sold to factories outside the State, was 

 $01,709. 



STATISTICAL SUMMARY FOR 1879. The tabulated statement herewith presented shows in 

 detail the census statistics of the Massachusetts fisheries. The number of persons employed is 

 20,117; the capital invested is $14,334,450; and the value of the products in first hands is 

 $8,141,750. 



These statistics show the production but do not exhibit the trade in fishery products, great 

 quantities of fish and oil being received in Massachusetts from Maine and the British Provinces, 

 and from here distributed throughout the country. The production is for the year 1879, and is 

 estimated to have been 10 per cent, less in quantity and 20 per cent, less in value than the catch for 

 1880 or for 1881. 



The table shows the number of persons employed in the several branches of the fishing indus- 

 try, viz, the number of vessel-fishermen, the number of boat-fishermen, including those engaged 

 in fishing with weirs and other stationary apparatus, and the number of factory hands, or those 

 employed in the preparation offish-oil and other products. The total number of persons actively 

 employed in the industry is 20,117. To this number may be added about 5,000 persons engaged in 

 manufacturing nets, hooks, lines, rigging, sails, spars, fish boxes and barrels, and in the building 

 of vessels and boats used in the fisheries. Including the families of fishermen and of those engaged 

 in preparing the products, it is estimated that 100,000 persons in Massachusetts rely upon this 

 industry for their support. 



The quantity of apparatus used in the fisheries is also shown, including the number of vessels 

 and their tonnage, the number of boats in vessel and shore fisheries, the number of gill-nets, purse- 

 seines, and drag-seines, and the number of weirs and other fishing traps. Sailing craft of over 5 



