208 NEW ENGLAND FISHERIES 



ing ground yielded 75,000 barrels of herring. In 1870, the 

 yield was almost an entire failure. One hundred and nine- 

 teen schooners from New England visited the islands in 

 1870. The catch for the American and the provincial fleet 

 was only 2,100 barrels. Lamoine, Maine, had ten vessels in 

 this fishery, all of which together did not secure enough to 

 make a single full fare. In 1872, 14,806 barrels were 

 caught by American fishermen. In 1873, the fishery was 

 again a failure on account of the ice which prevented the 

 fleet from reaching the islands. The fishery dwindled until 

 1880, when no American fleet went to the Magdalens for 

 herring to smoke, although cod vessels resorted to the islands 

 for herring for bait on their bank trips. 



The quantity of pickled herring secured by the American 

 vessels at Newfoundland during these years can not be 

 ascertained. Mr. Goode estimates that from six to ten 

 cargoes aggregating from 3,000 to 4,000 barrels were landed 

 yearly by American vessels. 1 The average quantity of 

 pickled herring imported into the United States from New- 

 foundland annually for the ten years ending with 1876 was 

 33,000 barrels, valued at $97,425 per year. 



The practice of smoking herring in America doubtless 

 dates from the earliest days, when that method of cur- 

 ing fish would be more convenient than curing by salt, 

 which could not always be obtained. The smoking of 

 herring was introduced into Maine at Eastport in 1808, and 

 at Lubec in 1812. By the middle of the last century the 

 business had reached a prosperous condition, being carried 

 on most extensively at Lubec. For twenty years previous 

 to 1865, not less than 500,000 boxes of herring were an- 

 nually cured in the limits of the town. After the close of 

 the war the demand fell off somewhat. During the period 

 of the Treaty of Washington, from 1873 to 1885, the de- 

 mand for smoked herring was so reduced by large impor- 



i Goode, Sec. V, Vol. I, p. 470. 



