42 GEOGRAPHICAL EEVIEW OF THE FISHERIES. 



20. ISLE AU HAUT, SEDGWICK, AND BROOKSVILLE. 



ISLE AU HAUT. Isle au Haut is a- small island lying several miles to the southeast of Deer 

 Isle. It was permanently settled about 1790. Being surrounded by excellent fishery grounds on 

 three sides, it lias from the first been largely interested in the fisheries; and as early as 1825, 

 according to Capt. James Turner, there were forty sail of vessels fitting at Castine and landing their 

 catch at the island. Several of these vessels were engaged iu the herring fishery during a port ion 

 of the season, and between 10,000 and 15,000 boxes were smoked annually on the island. Later 

 vessels were sent to the Magdalen Islands for herring, and both smoked and pickled herring were 

 put up iu considerable quantities. 



The vessel fisheries continued with but little diminution up to 1855, after which they declined 

 very rapidly, and the fleet at present consists of three small vessels, none of which do any extensive 

 business. A majority of the people are now engaged in the boat-fisheries. They fish for lobsters 

 about the many rocky islands and ledges in the locality from April to August, after which they 

 turn their attention to the capture of cod and other species with Hue or trawl, as is most desirable. 

 Not less than forty persons are employed iu this way. About I860 a lobster cannery was built at 

 Isle au ITaut for utilizing the catch, but, owing to an unpleasantness between the owners and the 

 fishermen, it was closed in 1873. 



According to Captain Collins, many herring were netted about the shores of the island at 

 certain seasons of the year up to 1850, and even in later years they have often been quite plenty. 

 In 187-1 a Sedgwick vessel anchored in one of the small harbors, and with eight nets and a crew 

 of two men succeeded in taking 150 barrels in three weeks It is said that two schools of herring 

 visit the locality, one arriving about the middle of -Inly and leaving early in August, the 

 other coming by the 15th of September and remaining about a month. Little has been done in 

 this fishery by the islanders, beyond (lie capture of a limited quantity for bait, for several years. 



SEDGWICK. Sedgwick, formerly known as Naskeag, was first settled in 1703. It was incor- 

 porated as a town, under its present name, in 1789, since which time the towns of Brooklin and 

 Brooksville have been taken from it. In 1870 it had a population of 1,113. Mr. Samuel Wasson, 

 of Surry, in his Survey of Hancock County, refers to it in the following language: 



"Sedgwick ... is another of our misshapen towns. The 'pom pet' which darkens its 

 agriculture, is its maritime facility. A large portion of this town is non-arable or grazing land, the 

 bushy acres of which should be made to turn out annually tons of superior mutton. From Sargents- 

 ville to Sedgwick, following the shore of Eggmoggin Reach, the soil is easy of cultivation and is 

 quite productive. Like most of our seaboard towns, the sea and not the soil furnishes the bread. 

 The industrial establishments are mainly those which are related to the fishing industry." 



At the present time Sedgwick has four vessels, valued at $<>,liOO, engaged in the fisheries. Two 

 of these are employed in the shore fishery, another visits Grand Banks for cod, and the fourth 

 fishes for mackerel between Cape Hatteras and the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. 



There are extensive clam-fiats along its shores, and during five months of the year thirty-eight 

 men depend on clamming for a livelihood. I n the winter of 1879-'80 there were dug, according to the 

 estimate of Herrick & Byard and W. G. Sargent & Son, over 5,000 bushels of clams. Of the entire 

 quantity about 4,300 bushels were shucked and salted, the remainder being sold fresh in the locality. 

 The two firms above mentioned handled during the season 2,3'_'G barrels of shelled clams, all of which 

 were bought from the fishermen of the surrounding towns. The catch was shipped to the principal 

 fishery centers of Maine and Massachusetts for use as bait in the offshore cod fisheries. Beyond 

 the vessel fisheries and the clamming interests almost nothing is done, though three men fish 



