242 GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW OF THE FISHERIES. 



The amount of capital invested in vessels is about $40,000; in apparatus, $20,000; and in buildings 

 and wharves, 82,500. One of tbe firms scuds half of tbe mackerel taken to Pbiladelpbia and lialf 

 to New York. The other firms send one-sixth to Philadelphia and the remainder to New York and 

 Boston. The vessels are insured for periods of six or seven months, in Proviucetown, Wellfleet, 

 and other places. Two of the vessels belonging to one of tlue firms make one trip in the spring to 

 Nantucket Shoals for codfish. In the spriug of 1879 the catch was GOO quintals. 



A weir has been in use at Harwich Port for thirteen years. It is a double weir, having two 

 leaders, pounds, and bowls. It is placed in position about the 20th of April, and is taken up in 

 the latter part of May. Its original cost was $3,000. 



South Harwich is located about 4 miles west of Chatham, and has within its limits the wharves 

 and buildings of two firms carrying on the fishing business. Four cod vessels and four mackerel 

 vessels are owned here. The cod vessels carry from nine to twelve men each. Two of these ves- 

 sels go to the Banks, and make but one trip; the others go to Nantucket Shoals. About 4,000 

 quintals have been brought iu by these four vessels annually for a number of years. The fish are 

 sold to small vessels, which carry them to Rhode Island and Connecticut ports. The four mack- 

 erel vessels are employed from the 1st of April to the last of October. They go south iu spring, 

 and follow the fish to ami along the coast of Maine. They make trips from two to six weeks iu 

 length. Each vessel carries from fifteen to twenty men. From 800 to 1,000 barrels of mackerel 

 arc sometimes brought from the Monomoy weirs, and are packed here. Ten or twelve men are 

 employed for about one-third of the year at the wharf in salting and preparing the mackerel for 

 market. During the remainder of the year they cither remain at their homes, or, if opportunity is 

 offered, ship on coasting vessels. The wharves at this place arc exposed to rough weather in 

 winter, and arc often damaged by ice. 



Two small weirs are owned iu South Harwich. One is situated at a short distance to the west 

 of the wharves, and the other a similar distance to the east of them. They are constructed of net- 

 ting, and have only a single leader and pound. They are not placed at so great a distance from land 

 as tlie Monomoy weirs, because the water is deeper. 



The condition of the fisheries of Harwich at the opening of the present century is shown in 

 the following note from the Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society:* "Fifteen or 

 twenty vessels, averaging 40 tons each, and about half of them owned iu the precinct, arc employed 

 in tlc shore fishery on the coast. Four vessels of 100 tons each, which go to the Banks of New- 

 foundland and the Straits of Belle Isle, sail also from this place and obtain their men here. The 

 whole number of men and boys engaged iu the cod fishery is about two hundred, but several sail 

 from Chatham, Bass River, and the North Precinct," 



During the first quarter of the century the business does not seem to have increased very 

 much. It is recorded by Freeman, in his History of Cape. Cod, that in 1837 



"There were here about twenty vessels engaged in the cod and mackerel fisheries; the 

 aggregate tonnage about 1,300 tons. The result of their voyage was 10,000 quintals of codfish, 

 worth about $30,000, and 500 barrels of mackerel, worth about $3,000. The amouut of salt used 

 in the business was 9,000 bushels; tbe number of hands employed 200, and the capital invested 

 $60,000." 



During the second quarter the fisheries increased very rapidly. The number of vessels twice 

 doubled. In 1802 eighty or one hundred vessels were employed in the cod and mackerel fisheries, 

 and several wharves and packing establishments were connected with the business. For the 



*Notc on the South Precinct of Harwich, in the County of Barnstable. September, 1802. <Coll. Mass. Hist. 

 Soc., VII, 1st series, p. 141. 



