226 



HISTOEY AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. 



Number of codfish taken 1878, 1879, and 1880. 



It must not be supposed that the number of fish present at the Shumagins is decreasing ; fish 

 are plentiful enough there, but the greater part of the fleet in 1880 consisted of large vessels, which 

 make it a rule to fish in the Okhotsk. 



In 1879", according to one of the prominent men in the business, the total cost of producing cod 

 ready for the salesroom in San Francisco was $63 per ton, or about 2f cents per pound. This 

 dealer hoped to be able to reduce the cost for 1880 to $56 per ton, or 2 cents per pound. 



The selling price of cod in 1879 was lower than ever before, and the business was scarcely 

 profitable. This depression was due in part to overstocking the market. A glance at the yield of 

 the fishery will show that about 1,250,000 fish is the normal maximum demaud, but in 1879 about 

 1,500,000 were brought in. Again, there was considerable rivalry between some of the dealers, 

 which led to cutting under the rates. The consequence of this rivalry, combined with the depres- 

 sion from natural causes, appeared in the small fleet of 18SO, most of the smaller speculators having 

 given up the business. 



In 1880 a combination was formed by the three principal houses, and prices are higher than 

 they were in 1879. The rates are: Choice large in 100-pound boxes, $5.50 per box; medium in 50- 

 pound bundles, 5 cents per pound; bondess in 30- and 50-pound boxes, 6J cents per pound; in 

 quantities less than 5 tons, 5 per cent, discount is allowed ; and in lots of 5 tons and upwards, 7 

 per cent. 



6. THE GILL-NET COD FISHERY. 



By J. W. COLLINS. 

 1. INTRODUCTION. 



Although gill-nets have long been used in Northern Europe, more especially in Norway, as an 

 apparatus for the capture of cod, and are considered indispensable by the Norwegians, they have 

 not until recently been introduced into the United States. It 1878 Prof. Spencer F. Baird, U. S* 

 Commissioner of Fisheries, knowing how profitably these were employed by the Norwegian fish- 

 ermen, decided to make experiments with them at Cape Ann, with a view to their introduction 

 among the cod fishermen of this country. He accordingly secured a number of the Norwegian 

 nets, which were sent to Gloucester and there tested by the employe's of the Commission. 



Experiments were made when the winter school of cod were on the shore grounds, but 

 the results obtained were not satisfactory, owing chiefly to the fact that the nets were found 

 far too frail for the large cod which frequent our coast in winter. This was apparent from the 

 numerous holes in the nets, which indicated plainly that large fish had torn their way through, 

 none being retained excepting those that had become completely rolled up in the twine. The cur- 

 rent also swept them afoul of the rocky bottom, which injured them still more, so that they were 

 soon rendered nearly unfit for use. The nets were invariably in bad order when hauled from the 

 water, but even under such unfavorable circumstances nearly a thousand pounds of fish were 



