260 111 STORY AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. 



determine the kind of fish which lie may see sporting at night, lie is thus often enabled to learn 

 the whereabouts of certain species, such, for instance, as the mackerel and their abundance, even 

 when they do not come to the surface during the day. The mackerel is a remarkably capricious 

 fish, and perhaps for many days in succession its presence cannot be detected in its favorite haunts 

 while daylight lasts, and the fishermen therefore seeks for it in vain, but as soon as the sun sets 

 nud darkness appears over the sea the schools rise to the surface and the fish continue to disport 

 themselves in this manner until near daylight, when they again sink out of sight. 



For many years after the introduction of purse-seines it was considered impracticable by the 

 fishermen to catch mackerel in the night, but at last some of the more adventurous skippers, hav- 

 ing a favorable opportunity for night fishing, and deeming it possible to catch the mackerel, made 

 an attempt and met with even better success than they dared to anticipate. Thereafter they fol- 

 lowed up this method of fishing whenever a good chance occurred, but as it usually resulted greatly 

 to their personal success, as well as increased their reputation among their fellow fishermen, on 

 account of the additional amount of fish caught, they were by no means anxious to tell that part 

 of their catch was made in the night, since, if they did so, all the other mackerel fishermen would 

 at once come directly into competition with them. As a matter of course, however, the fact of 

 mackerel being seined at night could not long be kept a secret, and the result was that one after 

 another began to adopt this practice until in the fall of 1881 it reached its climax, nearly every 

 vessel in the fleet engaging to a greater or less extent in night fishing.* 



Previous to this time the public at large were not, it seems, aware that such large quantities 

 of mackerel were taken in the night, though it was on record that night fishing had-been previously 

 attempted, and with good results.! 



The method of seining mackerel in the night is as follows: The vessel being on the fishing- 

 ground, if the night is favorable, she is allowed to sail slowly ahead while a man goes aloft to the 

 foremast head and keeps a lookout for the fish. If the signs are peculiarly favorable, perhaps two 

 or more men may be aloft for this purpose. These lookouts are the men who have the watch on 

 deck, and, not infrequently, the skipper may be one of them, his ambition to succeed often impell- 

 ing him to remain up during the entire night, constantly keeping on the alert for fish and watching 

 the movements of surrounding vessels. The remainder of the crew those having a watch below 

 are thoroughly prepared and dressed in their oil-clothes ready to jump into the seine-boat at a 

 moment's warning. If the fish are not seen in the first of the night, the men off duty lie down on 

 the cabin or forecastle floors or stretch themselves on the lockers, and endeavor in this way to get 

 what sleep they can, unless, indeed, they may be busy on deck in caring for the fish taken the 



* Mr. A. Howard Clark, writing under date of October 28, 1881, says : " During tlie past few weeks the mackerel 

 fleet have taken some good hauls during the night, as the fish have been difficult to catch by daylight but have rarely 

 failed to show themselves on dark nights. When the moon shines it is impossible to see them, but when the night is 

 dark or starlight they can be plainly seen from the mast-head, and sometimes from the vessel's deck. Heretofore, in 

 night fishing, the methods have been the same as by day, but recently, owing to the difficulty of seeing the fish from 

 the deck or the boat the lookout at the foremast-head has given directions to the men while setting the seine. In 

 this method the seine-boat is towed astern of the vessel, and when ready to 'give 'em twine' the dory is allowed to 

 drift astern with one end of the seine while it is being thrown out from the seine-boat. When ready to go around the 

 school the order is given from the mast-head to ' go ahead ; ' the seine-boat is cast loose from the vessel and the seine 

 brought together iu the usual manner. Still another improvement in (he methods is likely soon to be adopted in this 

 night seining, and that is in the use of large lanterns to show their position to the men while setting for them. The 

 schooner Northern Eagle tried this new method last Tuesday night and found it to work splendidly. It was probably 

 the first attempt to use lanterns for such a purpose. Two schools of mackerel were secured, one at 10 o'clock and the 

 other at midnight, both together yielding 160 barrels. The lantern was the ordinary large signal light used by fishing 

 vessels." 



t\Vo hear of one vessel with a catch of 100 barrels in one week, and of several with catches ranging from 30 to 

 CO barrels. Another vessel made a good haul in a seine, one moonlight night recently, a new feature in this fishery. 

 'Cape Ann Advertiser, October 19, 1877.) 



