THE MACKEREL PURSE-SEINE FISHERY. 251 



and stern, but with position varied according to the fancies of the fishermen, are fixed in the gun- 

 wale two staples, to which are attached other snatch-blocks used to secure additional purchase 

 upon the purse-ropes. In the center of the platform at the stern of the boat is placed a large 

 wooden pump, used to draw out the water which accumulates in large quantities during the haul- 

 ing of the seine. The steering rowlocks, with the peculiar attachment for the tow-rope and the 

 metallic fixtures described above, are manufactured especially for seine-boats by a firm at Middle- 

 town, Conn. 



Until 1872 the seine-boats were always built in the lap-streak style; since that time an 

 improved form of smooth-bottomed boats, built with battened seam, set-work, sheathed inside with 

 pine, and with oak frame and pine platform, has been growing in popularity. The advantages 

 claimed for this boat by the builders are: (1) Increased speed; (2) greater durability, on account 

 of the more solid character of the woodwork and tighter seams; and (3) less liability to catch the 

 twine of the nets by reason of the smooth sides. It is not so stiff as a lap-streaked boat of the 

 same width, but in other respects is superior. 



Since the general adoption of the purse-seine in the menhaden and mackerel fisheries, an 

 account of which is given elsewhere, there has been a gradual increase from year to year in the 

 size of the seine-boats, keeping pace with a corresponding increase in the size of the seines. 



In 1857 all boats were 28 feet in length ; in 1872 the length had increased to 30 feet, and in 

 the summer and fall of the same year an additional foot was added to the length ; in 1873 almost 

 all boats which were built had a length of 31 feet, a few of 32 and 33; in 1874 almost all were 33 

 feet, as they were during 1875 and 1876, although some were made 35 and 36 feet; in 1877 34 feet 

 was the most popular length, though one or two 38-foot boats were then built. Seven, eight, or 

 nine oars, usually 13 or 14 feet in length, are used in these boats, besides a steering-oar of 16 or 17. 



These boats last, with ordinary usage, six or seven years. At the close of the fishing season 

 they are always taken ashore and laid up for the winter in a shed or under trees, and are com- 

 pletely refitted at the beginning of another season. 



The seine-boats carried by many of the "menhaden catchers" south of Cape Cod and by some 

 of tha steamers are shaped like ships' yawls, square-sterned, smooth-bottomed, and batten-seamed, 

 22 to 26 feet long and 6i feet beam. They are built at New Bedford, New London, Greenport, and 

 at Mystic River, and cost about $125 each, the finest $185. The New Bedford boats are preferred 

 by many fishermen. 



The Cape Ann fishermen stow their seines in one boat, and in shooting the seine one end of it 

 is carried in a dory.* 



The arrangement of the thwarts is especially adapted for the mackerel fishery. There is 

 some variation, however, as to the number of these in the different sizes of boats. In the size 

 most commonly in use at the present time (1881) there are six thwarts, five of these being forward 

 of midships and one 7f feet farther aft. The following are the general dimensions of the boat : 

 36 feet long over all ; 7 feet 7 inches wide ; 2 feet 8 inches deep. The bow thwart is placed 4 feet 

 from the stem, and there is a space of 2 feet between each of the five forward thwarts. The boat 

 is ceiled to the gunwales and platformed inside. In the bow she has a raised platform, which 

 comes up to the level, or nearly so, of the forward thwart, to which it extends, and is bulkheaded 

 on the after end. The stern is covered over on the top of the gunwales, forming the stern sheets, 

 this being 3 feet long forward of the stern-post, with a bulkhead on the forward side. Forward of 

 this again, and a little below the level of the thwarts, is another platform, 3 feet in length, also 

 bulkheaded on the forward side. On this the seine-master stands while steering the boat, and in 



* Goode, History of the American Menhaden, p. 122. 



