86 NEW ENGLAND FISHERIES 



merchantable fish for Bilboa and other places that de- 

 manded fish of the first quality. Their fish of an inferior 

 quality were carried to Portsmouth for shipment to the 

 West Indies. 1 Mackerel and herring, also, were sent to 

 the West Indies, but their principal use at this period was 

 for bait. "Choice Hook Mackrill for Bait' 1 were adver- 

 tised in a Boston paper of 1728 as early as February 19th. 2 

 How the merchant obtained mackerel for bait at this sea- 

 son of the year is difficult to understand. Salmon were 

 being caught and salted on the Connecticut River in the 

 early part of the century. In New Hampshire petitions 

 for salmon weirs were issued as early as 1729. 3 



The fisheries of New England employed between five 

 thousand and six thousand men in 1731. They were reck- 

 oned to produce annually 230,000 quintals of dried fish 

 which yielded in the European markets about $700,000. 

 As their salt, rum, molasses, also their provisions and uten- 

 sils, were purchased from the refuse fish unfit for European 

 markets and from fish oil, "the said rum may be said to be 

 all gained out of the sea.' There were about 1,300 tons 

 of shipping engaged in the whale fishery this year in addi- 

 tion to the codfishery tonnage. 4 



With the return of more peaceful relations with the 

 French and Indians after 1725 the colonists pursued their 

 calling with increasing activity on the fishing grounds of 

 Nova Scotia, Cape Breton Island and Newfoundland. An 

 English fishing station had been erected at Canso, at the 

 eastern extremity of Nova Scotia. This place, command- 

 ing the entrance to the Strait of Canso between Nova Scotia 

 and Cape Breton Island, soon became an important trade 

 center. In 1721, twenty thousand quintals of codfish were 



1 Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll., 1st series, VII, p. 242. 



2 New England Journal, Feb. 19 and 26; Mar. 4, 1728. 



3 Weeden, II, p. 596. 



* Anderson, Origin of Commerce, II, p. 172. 



