262 NEW ENGLAND FISHERIES 



pass. Many instances are on record of the schooling of the 

 mackerel in so great a body that it extended for miles in 

 length and breadth over the surface of the ocean. Under 

 such conditions, it may be a difficult task to catch them. 

 Usually mackerel are sensitive to maneuvers to catch them ; 

 when they are wild it is almost impossible for the fisherman 

 to take them, and a dozen " water-hauls " may be made dur- 

 ing the day without any success on the part of the fisher- 

 man. On the other hand, a fortunate streak of good fish- 

 ing may continue for several days and a cargo of fish be 

 secured in the time; such conditions are unusual and are 

 attended by great physical exertions on the part of the 

 vessel's crew. 



The annual catch of fish is a very unsafe guide by which 

 to compute the quantity of mackerel in the sea. The 

 quantity of mackerel that exist in the sea probably does 

 not vary greatly from one year to another. During periods 

 covering ten or twenty years there may be a difference. 

 The fisherman realizes, as the landsman cannot, that the 

 amount of mackerel in the ocean to be caught is immense 

 a quantity beyond all possibility of computing; the sea- 

 son's catch may be only ten thousand barrels, yet his 

 knowledge of conditions causes the fisherman to believe 

 that there are millions upon millions of them left un- 

 touched, the possibilities of several seasons* work in the 

 future. 



Thus it is that the mackerel fishery offers great hope of 

 reward to the skillful seiner. In a successful year his ves- 

 sel may stock from $15,000 to $40,000. It is with the hope 

 of making a good season's catch that he continues in the 

 business from year to year. It is with the same hope that 

 the mackerel fleet continues to exist. If an equal division 

 were made each year of the proceeds of the total catch it 

 is likely that the individual share would fall below the 

 amount required to support a fisherman and his family for 



