282 



NEW ENGLAND FISHERIES 



however, and the catch continued to fall off in amount 

 yearly until 1890, when only 436,650 quintals were taken. 

 While the average yearly catch for the decade of the 

 eighties was 786,000 quintals, for the last nineteen years 

 it has been only 457,000 quintals. 1 



During the last twelve years there have been annually 

 in the New England shore and George's fleet 372 vessels, 

 and in the Grand and Western Banks fleet 58 vessels, the 

 whole number employed in both fisheries being 430 vessels, 

 carrying crews of 7,142 men, and securing 460,000 quintals 

 of fish yearly. The average for each vessel of the fleet is 

 1,070 quintals yearly. While the Grand Bank fleet is less 

 than 14 per cent of the total, that fleet has caught in this 

 period of time 36 per cent of the entire catch of fish. 



The fresh-fish industry of the deep-sea fisheries has been 

 carried on with more or less activity in New England for 

 above three-quarters of a century. The method of preserv- 

 ing the fish fresh for the market was at first by the use of 

 well-smacks. These boats were fitted out with a compart- 

 ment that allowed the ocean water to circulate freely. As 

 soon as the fish were captured they were thrown into the 

 well. In the case of the halibut, which often weighs several 

 hundred pounds, they were stunned by a blow on the head 

 in order to take them more easily and safely from the 



i The change that has taken place is indicated in the following 

 table, of the catch of cured ground fish in quintals for different 

 periods. 



