LABRADOE AND GULF OF SAINT LAWRENCE COD FISHERIES. 145 



"The first American vessel to engage in the Labrador cod fishery sailed from Newburyport 

 about the year 1794, and from that time until the year 1879 there was scarcely a year when one 

 or more Newburyport vessels have not visited the Labrador coast. In 1806 this fleet numbered 

 45 sail; in 1817, 65 sail; in 1860, 60 sail; in 1874, 2 sail; in 1876, 2 sail; in 1879, none; in 1880, 

 one vessel. 



" Captain Sandborn thinks there were not more than twenty or twenty-five Newburyport 

 vessels that engaged in the Labrador fishery when it was at its zenith, but I thought there 

 were more than that number. I can't tell of any cause for their leaving off except what Captain 

 Saudborn says, that if Government would help us as other Governments help the fishermen we 

 could beat them out of their boots." 



In 1858 a vessel from Northern New York participated in the cod fishery on the coast of Labrador. 

 This was the schooner Charlotte, of Rochester, Captain Farnbam, which fitted out in that city in 

 1858, and proceeding down the Saint Lawrence River and through the canals made hardly a reason- 

 ably successful voyage, returning home in September. On the 2d of September she entered in the 

 Rochester custom-house with the following cargo, consigned to A. Wilder, esq. : 6,000 pounds 

 of codfish, 3 barrels of salmon, 2 barrels of halibut, barrel of sounds and tongues, 300 pounds of 

 trout, 24 seal skins. 



Contemporary newspaper paragraphs- stated that the Charlotte obtained 90,000 pounds of cod- 

 fish and a large quantity of salmon and seal-skins. An examination of the custom-house records, 

 made by Mr. W. T. Hornaday, shows that the cargo was small. It is, however, a remarkable cir- 

 cumstance that a vessel from this locality should have attempted to engage in the sea fisheries. 



7. CAUSES OF THE DECLINE OF THE LABRADOR AND GULF FISHERIES. 



The causes of the decline of the Labrador and the Gulf fishery are not thoroughly understood. 

 There appears to be no scarcity of fish in those regions. Two reasons for the abandonment of these 

 grounds by American vessels are mentioned, (1) the demand in American markets for larger 

 fish than can be found on the Labrador coast, the exportation of salt codfish, for which small fish 

 were formerly preferred, having fallen into the hands of the British Provinces and Norway ; (2) the 

 introduction of trawling upon the off-shore grounds, which has been accompanied by improvements 

 in the fishing vessels, the capture of larger fish, and in an increase of skill and daring on the part 

 of our fishermen, so that it is now unnecessary for our fleet to go so far from home, or engage in 

 voyages where the vessels lie in harbor while fishing, since fares of higher-priced fish can be readily 

 obtained on the banks lying off the coast. 



8. WINTER FISHING BY GLOUCESTER VESSELS ON THE WEST COAST OF NEW- 

 FOUNDLAND. 



This fishery, though of no great importance, deserves mention. It is so different from the 

 summer fishery, which has just beon described, that it seems more appropriate to make reference 

 to it in a separate paragraph. In the winter of 1861 and 1862 four vessels fitted out and started on 

 a cod fishing trip for the west coast of Newfoundland. One of these, the Ocean Traveller, was lost 

 on the passage. The others resorted to Bonne Bay and the Bay of Islands, but were not very suc- 

 cessful. Other vessels have since that time made occasional trips in the winter to the same locali- 

 ties, but on account of the extreme severity of the weather at that season, the results have rarely 

 been favorable. 



SEC V 10 



