356 HISTORY AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. 



formerly fished near tbe coast, and they now find the best and ' most profitable fishing at that 

 distance.' This fish is included among the shore fishes described by Prof. S. F. Baird as having 

 suffered 'an alarming decrease' along the iushores of the United States, owing partly to excessive 

 fishing throughout their spawning time in order to supply the oil-factories. 



" Chapter 5 of the Answer deals with ' the specific benefits which the treaty directs the Commis- 

 sion to regard in its comparison and adjustment of equivalents.' The admission of British subjects 

 to United States fishing grounds has been dealt with at length in the third chapter of the Case. 

 There is nothing in the Answer on this subject calling for any reply excepting the statement, at 

 page 20, that Dominion fishermen 'have in the United States waters to-day over thirty vessels 

 equipped for seining, which, with the American fleet, are sweeping the shores of New England.' 

 Leaving out of question the 'American fleet,' which has nothing whatever to do with the matter, 

 the correctness of the statement is directly challenged in so far as it implies that these thirty ves- 

 sels, or any of them, are British bottoms, owned by Dominion fishermen; and the United States 

 is hereby called upon to produce evidence in its support." 



8. VALUE OF MENHADEN FOR MANUFACTURING PURPOSES. 



PRICES OF FISH AT DIFFERENT SEASONS. The price of fresh menhaden cannot be definitely 

 stated, since it varies from week to week with the abundance and fatness of the fish and the needs 

 of individual manufacturers. 



Many factories rely entirely upon their own "gangs" for their supplies; some others buy the 

 fish of the vessels engaged in the trade, though this practice is less common than it formerly was. 

 Still every factory buys fish in greater or less quantity, and the answers to question 47 of the cir- 

 cular are important in exhibiting the variations in abundance at different points on the coast. 

 Perhaps it may not be amiss to quote fully from the letters, it being quite impossible to tabulate 

 the facts. 



In the report of the committee on statistics from the United States Association for the meet- 

 ing of 1875 the estimate was put at 3 barrels to the thousand fish, or 333 fish to the barrel.* 



Captain Tuthill estimates 22 cubic inches to each fish, Captain Sisson 21, making 3 barrels to 

 the thousand. In Long Island Sound the fish are sold by tbe thousand ; farther east, always by the 

 barrel. 



Mr. Condon, of Belfast, estimates the price for 1873 at 60 cents; Mr. G. B. Kenuiston, of 

 Booth Bay, at 75 cents, stating that in previous years the price has ranged from 50 cents to $1.25. 

 Mr. B. F. Brightman says that in 1872 and 1873 the average has been 65 cents, but that when oil 

 was high they have brought $1. Mr. J. Washburn, of Portland, estimates the price at $1 for 1873; 

 during the war, much higher. Mr. Eben B. Phillips estimates the price at from 60 to 70 cents in 

 1873, 56 in 1874, and about 60 in previous years. Fall fish, for trying, bring 40 to 50 cents in Well- 

 fleet, Mass., according to Mr. Dill. At Nan tucket, according to Mr. Eeubeu C. Kenny, the fish 

 are worth from 50 to 75 cents as taken from the nets ; only about half are, used in the manufacture 

 of oil. 



Mr. Church gives the average price on Narragansett Bay at 40 cents, and to this correspond 

 very nearly the estimates of the southern shore of Cape Cod and the Vineyard Sound, which find 

 market for their menhaden at the Narragansett factories. 



*A "round barrel" is a barrel of undressed fish, and weighs about 200 pounds. The number of fish in a barrel 

 necessarily varies with their size. Estimates range from 180 to 2HO ; but that made by Mr. Fairchild, at the meeting 

 of the " United States Menhaden Oil and Guano Association," in 1H74, is perhaps fair, putting 4 barrels to a thou- 

 sand fish, or 'Jf>0 fish to a barrel. 



