THE GROWTH ALONG THE COAST 191 



called. Bait was thrown from the vessel to draw the fish 

 from the bottom and to attract them to the reach of the 

 lines of the crew, who fished from the vessel 's deck. Many 

 vessels carried as many as 75 barrels of menhaden slivers, 

 which were ground fine in mills for bait to be cast overboard 

 to attract the fish. 1 



The catch of the Gloucester mackerel fleet for 1831 was 

 69,756 barrels; for 1851, it was 81,627 barrels. The 

 average catch for the years of the war, 1861 to 1865, was 

 131,432 barrels. The record year was 1864 when 154,938 

 barrels of mackerel were taken. The value of this catch 

 for Gloucester was in the millions. There were 68,061 bar- 

 rels of No. 1 mackerel, quoted at $30 per barrel, and 73,002 

 barrels of No. 2 mackerel worth $20 per barrel. Based on 

 these prices the value to the town of the mackerel industry 

 for 1864 alone was in excess of $3,500,000. 2 The high-line 

 stock for a vessel at the Gulf of Saint Lawrence in 1865 

 was made by the schooner Colonel Ellsworth, her net stock 

 for a trip of five months being $13,728. This was the 

 highest stock made by a schooner to that date. Among the 

 crew, the high-liner's share was $558. 3 



The Gloucester fishery for cod on the Grand Bank of 

 Newfoundland was at a very low mark from 1804 to 1819. 

 In the latter year a company was formed with $50,000 

 stock for the purpose of reviving the industry, but after 

 operating unsuccessfully for about three years the at- 

 tempt was abandoned. The Newfoundland codfishery 

 thereafter did not become of marked importance. In 1821, 

 four schooners from the town made initial trips for cod 

 to the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, returning with full fares 

 near the first of July, after an absence of about two months. 



While these pioneers were in quest of cod in the Gulf, 



1 Fishermen's Memorial and Record Book, p. 63. 



2 U. S. Fish Com. Report, 1881, pp. 274, 300. 



3 Memorial and Record Book, p. 86. 



