NEW HAMPSHIEE: PORTSMOUTH AND VICINITY. 



Detailed statement of the quantities and rahies of the products Continued. 



109 



rt Includes $5,250 enhancement in value of southern oysters. 



NOTE. The proportion of different species included in the fresli and cured fish is estimated as follows: Alewives, 425,000 pounda; cod, 

 5,447.597 pounds; cusk, 38,000 pounds; haddock, 044,347 pounds; bake, 397,500 pounds; halibut, 25,000 pounds; herring, 108,750 pounds; 

 mackerel, 2,573,000 pounds; pollock, 75,500 pounds; swordfish, 20,000 pounds; mixed fish, 208,000 pounds. 



B. PORTSMOUTH AND VICINITY. 



52. THE FISHERIES OF PORTSMOUTH AND NEIGHBORING TOWNS. 



PRESENT CONDITION OP THE FISHERIES OF PORTSMOUTH. Although New Hampshire has 

 but one port of entry, yet this one is among the most important on the New England coast and 

 possesses much of iiiterest for its historic connections, as well as for its present commercial 

 importance. It is situated on the Piscataqua River, 3 miles from its outlet into the ocean and 57 

 miles by rail northeast from Boston. The harbor is easy of access, has water enough at all times 

 for the largest vessels, is well sheltered, and since the earliest settlement of the country has been 

 a favorite harbor of refuge for coasting vessels. The river, which is the boundary between Maine 

 and New Hampshire, has seven fathoms of water as far as 5 miles from its month. A swift current 

 prevents its freezing or being blocked. There are numerous islands in the river both above and 

 below the city. The following islands lie between Portsmouth and the river's mouth. Those 

 belonging to New Hampshire are Leache's, Snuff Box, Oliver's or Goat, Shapleigh's or Jenkins's, 

 Pierce's, Four- tree, and Salter's. Those within the limits of Maine are Seavey's, Clark's, Fishing, 

 Pebble's, Gerrish, Cntt's, Moore's, and Fernald's or Navy-yard. At the mouth of the river are 

 Wood, White, Horn, and Little Horn Islands. 



Two of the islands below Portsmouth and three wharves at the city are devoted to the fishing 

 industry. There is no direct foreign trade and but a small fleet of vessels compared with past 

 years, yet the fisheries are at present on the increase. The vessels now engaged, though fewer 

 in number than formerly, are of larger size, and with a prosperous season oue vessel well equipped 

 with the improved apparatus of capture will secure as large a catch as was once taken by several 

 vessels of small size with the old methods of fishing. 



The nearness of Portsmouth to the best fishing grounds and to the great fish distributing 

 centers of New England, a fine harbor, and the improved facilities for the capture and care of fish, 

 all tend to the favorable development of the business. 



The large vessels engage in the Grand Bank, Western Bank, and New England shore cod 

 fisheries and io the mackerel fishery, trawls being mostly used in the former and purse-seines 

 exclusively in the latter fishery. The small wherries used by the boat-fishermen are usually 



