172 NEW ENGLAND FISHERIES 



The rise of the industry was generally steady from 1840 

 to 1851, after which there was a period of decline for eight 

 years, except in the year 1855. 1 During the last three years 

 of the Civil War there was a slight falling off in the catch 

 of mackerel as compared with that of the early sixties, 

 probably due to the lack of men to engage in the business, 

 as many fishermen had enlisted for service in the war. 

 But the value of the fishery was greatest during these 

 years. The total value of the mackerel of the country for 

 the three years 1864, 1865, and 1866 was $17,893,211. In 

 these three years mackerel of the first quality sold in 

 Massachusetts at from $22 to $30 a barrel. The cause of 

 high prices appears to have been due to a steady demand 

 for the fish; when the markets became empty of mackerel 

 the price of the fish advanced. The most profitable year 

 was in 1864 when the country's catch of 324,455 barrels of 

 mackerel was valued at $7,001,098. 2 Nearly one-half of this 

 total went to the fishermen from the town of Gloucester. 

 The mackerel was king of the sea in war times. 



During this period more than four-fifths of the mackerel 

 industry was carried on by citizens of Massachusetts. 

 From 1819 to 1866 the total product of the business in 

 Massachusetts was 9,073,510 barrels of pickled mackerel, 

 valued at $61,815,907, an average value of $8.60 a barrel. 

 The average yearly product was 189,239 barrels, worth 

 $1,671,240. The Maine catch of mackerel was less certain. 

 During eleven odd years between 1820 and 1866 there was 

 a total catch of 336,153 barrels; in 1865, the catch was 

 54,216 barrels. In New Hampshire the business was small, 

 from 1830 to 1852 the total pack of salted mackerel being 

 153,370 barrels. During the Civil War the New Hampshire 

 mackerel fishery was practically suspended, as only 722 

 barrels were packed from 1861 to 1866. It would appear 



1 U. S. Fish Com. Report, 1881, p. 280. 



2 U. S. Fish Com. Report, 1881, p. 299. 



