180 NEW ENGLAND FISHERIES 



cod, and eight years later marked the beginning of send- 

 ing vessels to the Grand Bank of Newfoundland, and others 

 to the Magdalen Islands for herring. When the business 

 of smoking herring was at its height in Hancock, from 

 30,000 to 40,000 boxes were packed yearly for the market 

 at Boston and the West Indies. 



About 1835 the people of Lamoine began sending pinkies 

 of thirty or forty tons to fish for cod in the Bay of Fundy, 

 and in 1848 the fleet numbered about twenty-five sail with 

 six or eight men each. The fishery began to decline in 

 1850; the smaller boats were sold in other ports, and the 

 larger vessels were fitted out for trips to the Grand Bank. 

 This fishery, which began in 1857, was prosecuted from 

 Lamoine with success for several years. When the men- 

 haden business began to be profitable the farmers of the 

 town left their fields to engage in the industry. There 

 were scores of them who bought nets, boats and kettles 

 and set up in business for themselves on the shores of the 

 Bay. Along with the other fishery industries, that of 

 smoking herring was extensively carried on in the place. 

 The first schooner was sent to the Magdalen Islands for 

 an additional supply of herring for smoking in 1855. The 

 annual output of this industry averaged between 30,000 

 and 40,000 boxes ; in 1865 or 1866 the number reached 125,- 

 000 boxes. 



About 1825 Castine became a center for fitting out fish- 

 ing vessels. Salt was imported direct from Cadiz and Liver- 

 pool to supply the demands of fishermen of Central and 

 Eastern Maine. By 1850 five hundred vessels were fitted 

 out annually at Castine. The fisheries of Deer Isle were 

 carried on in small boats until 1830 when twelve large ves- 

 sels were sent to offshore banks for cod ; forty smaller ones 

 fished inshore at the time. In ten years the number of 

 vessels had increased to thirty and the boats to fifty. The 

 height of the fishing business for the island was during 



