THE GROWTH ALONG THE COAST 187 



990,489 quintals of dried fish valued at $2,616,845, and 

 90,321 barrels of pickled fish valued at $370,907. The 

 total value of exports of both American caught and foreign 

 caught fish from Boston for the eight years was $3,453,063. 1 



Information regarding the fishing fleet of Boston is in- 

 complete. For the year 1855 Boston ranked third in the 

 State in the extent to which its citizens pursued the mack- 

 erel fisheries, there being in that year 89 vessels, of a ton- 

 nage of 7,100, engaged in fishing, with 1,000 men in the 

 crews. The amount of capital invested was $260,000, and 

 the value of the product was $317,000. 2 No vessels were 

 engaged in the codfishery. 



The towns of Hingham and Cohasset carried on a thriv- 

 ing business in the mackerel fishery during most of this 

 period. Part of the time Hingham ranked third in the 

 State in the amount of the catch. Her fishing interests 

 were carried on, in 1851, by 500 of her citizens in 37 ves- 

 sels. The Plymouth district, which includes Scituate, Dux- 

 bury, Kingston and Plymouth, had, on an average, sixty- 

 eight vessels in the codfishery from 1818 to 1866. The 

 smallest number was 48 in 1826, when 24,000 quintals of 

 cod were taken ; the largest number was 94, in 1839, when 

 63,763 quintals of cod were taken. The mackerel fisher- 

 men of Plymouth caught 5,520 barrels of mackerel in 1830. 

 This branch of fishery declined after 1838 until it became 

 of no consequence a decade later. 



Wellfleet takes high rank among the communities whose 

 people pursued the mackerel fishery. The business began 

 in 1826, and its increase was rapid and steady. Some years 

 as many as 100 schooners were in the fleet. In 1833, there 

 were 12,811 barrels of mackerel inspected; in 1845, the 

 number was 19,900 barrels ; in 1848, it reached 28,219 bar- 



1 Andrews' Report, pp. 636, 637. 



2 36th Cong., 1st Sess., Sen. Docs. No. 41, quoting from "Industry 

 of Massachusetts." 



