6 HISTORY AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. 



fisherman and a reliable man. It is not a rare occurrence to find among the crew of a halibut 

 schooner several meu who have been masters of vessels. In the Gloucester fleet were employed, 

 iu the census year, 646 men, a large percentage (187) of whom were of New England birth, with a 

 still larger percentage (393) of Provincials, a considerable number (103) of Scandinavians, and a 

 very few Portuguese, French, and Irish. Some vessels are commanded by Swedes and Norwegians 

 and manned almost entirely by men of the same nationality, men of these countries seeming to 

 take very kindly to this branch of the fisheries. A number of the most enterprising skippers are 

 natives of Maine. There is no branch of the fisheries which demands of the men employed iu it 

 more skill, endurance, and cour.ige than the halibut fishery. 



The crews of the Connecticut and Long Island vessels are made up, in large part, of men 

 from the ports to which the vessels belong, especially the three or four men who are sharesmen. 

 The remainder of the men are hired, and are less responsible, and, as a rule, less efficient and 

 daring than those employed in the Gloucester fleet. 



4. THE HALIBUT VESSELS. 



The schooners which are employed iu the fresh-halibut business have always been chosen 

 from among the stauchest and swiftest iu the Gloucester fleet. Their average tonnage is from 75 

 to 80 tons, and they are, as a rule, better vessels than even those now employed in the George's 

 fishery. The smallest vessel employed in the fresh-halibut fishery in 1880 was the Alice G. Wou- 

 sou, of 64 tons, while others registered nearly 100 tons. A writer iu the Barnstable Patriot of 

 March 25, 1856, says: "The Gloucester vessels now engaged in the halibut fishery ou the Banks 

 number forty-six. The^ are generally tine vessels of about 80 tous, and are manned by hardy, 

 experienced, and bold crews of about twelve men each." 



A vessel engaging in this fishery is fitted out iu a somewhat peculiar manner. To enable her 

 to anchor in great depths of water and to ride out furious gules, which she is sure to encounter 

 in the winter, she is provided with a cable of great size and strength. This cable is of inanila, 8 

 to 9 inches in circumference, and from 375 to 425 fathoms in length, spliced together in "strings," 

 each of which is usually 50 to 100 fathoms long. Most of the cable is coiled upon the port side, for- 

 ward, where it fills the entire space between the forecastle companion-way and the rail, the coil 

 being 6 to 7 feet iu width, 9 to 10 feet in length, and having a height of about 3A or 4i feet. This 

 mass of rope seems immense, and would weigh, when wet, probably about 4 tous. A new cable 

 (dry) of 400 fathoms weighs 6,266 pounds. As a rule, 50 or 75 lathoms of this cable are coiled on 

 the starboard side of the companion-way, in order that it may be ready to bend on the starboard 

 anchor, which is rarely or never kept bent at sea. 



The anchors are, of course, unusually heavy. They are the ordinary long-shanked anchors 

 carried by fishing schooners, with a wooden stock which passes through au eye iu the end of the 

 shank. These anchors weigh from 525 to 725 pounds, according to the size of the vessel. A vessel 

 of SO tons would carry three anchors averaging about 675 or 680 pounds iu weight. One of the 

 three, which is taken for a "spare anchor," is kept ready for emergencies, being stowed upon the 

 deck. Some of the halibut vessels are provided with unusually large and powerful windlasses, for 

 use in very deep water. 



The hold is fitted up in a peculiar manner, as shown in the accompanying diagram of the port 

 side of a halibut schooner, of which the following is an explanation: 



