426 HISTORY AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. 



on its arrival. No careful study has been made of this subject, as the opportunity has not yet 

 presented itself; but it seems more than probable that the whole coast from Seguin Island, at the 

 eastern entrance of Casco Bay, to Boston will prove to be one continuous spawning ground for 

 enormous schools that remain at a considerable distance from the shore, and approach it only in 

 the fall for the purpose of depositing their spawn, after which they return to the deeper water 

 outside, and that there are particular relations between currents and temperature and the move- 

 ments of the fish that cause them to visit the northern portion of the ground nearly two months 

 earlier than they do the waters about Boston. 



The theory advanced recently that the herring, unlike the shad and alewife, spawn on a falling 

 temperature is very naturally suggested by the habits of the fish in this locality, but when we 

 remember that the herring spawn in April and May at Magdalen Islands, in midsummer at Grand 

 Manan, and probably in March at Eastport, Me., there is abundant reason why this theory should 

 be rejected. 



South of Boston there are no extensive herring fisheries, and there is no particular locality 

 where the fish are known to be abundant. According to Mr. F. W. True, a few are taken in the 

 weirs along the shores of Cape Cod, and Mr. W. A. Wilcox reports an occasional catch in the weirs 

 of Narragansett Bay. Both of these gentlemen, however, state that no one makes a business of 

 catching the herring, and that most of those taken while fishing for other species are used for bait 

 by the local line-fishermen or sold to the Cape Ann vessels that resort to the region in spring to 

 purchase menhaden and alewives to be used in the George's Bank cod fisheries. 



2. VESSELS AND CREWS. 



THE VESSELS AND OUTFIT. As has already been stated, there is not a single vessel belonging 

 to the United States that is engaged regularly in the herring fisheries throughout the year, since 

 they are not considered sufficiently remunerative to warrant the fishermen in devoting any consid- 

 erable portion of their time to them. During the spawning season, however, a large number of 

 small vessels of an inferior grade, that have been engaged in shore trawling, or to a limited extent 

 in the coasting trade, are fitted out for this work. These proceed carefully along the shore from 

 harbor to harbor until they reach the fishing grounds. Some are considered nearly unfit for the 

 other fisheries and lie idle during the greater part of the year, their trip for herring in the fall 

 being their principal work. The poorer class of vessels, though scarcely seaworthy, can be 

 employed to advantage in the herring fisheries, as they remain constantly in or near the harbor, 

 where they can be securely anchored during stormy weather, while the fisheries are prosecuted 

 from small boats that go daily to the fishing grounds. The vessels serve principally as a home 

 for the fishermen and as a storehouse for receiving their catch; and they are also used for carrying 

 the fish to market at the close of the season. 



These vessels range from 5 to 40 tons, the larger ones going a distance of more than a hundred 

 miles from home either for the purpose of catching or marketing their fish. Even the smaller 

 vessels frequently go from 50 to 75 miles away, though their captains are very careful to wait for 

 a favorable opportunity, often anchoring in a convenient harbor a number of times on the passage. 

 The value of these vessels depends upon their size and condition, the price varying from $150 

 to $1,000. 



In preparing for this fishery the vessels lay aside their trawls and other fishing gear and 

 supply themselves with gill-nets, after which they proceed to some of the principal fishing ports, 

 where they are supplied with barrels and a sufficient quantity of salt for preserving the catch. 



