20 



NATURAL FISHERIES. 



In early days nearly every coast town possessed one or 

 more natural streams upon which fisheries were soon established 

 under town management, and in a few cases by private indi- 

 viduals. Unless the fishery was completely ruined, its opera- 

 tion was conducted in one or a combination of four ways: (1) 

 free; (2) town-operated; (3) leased; and (4) privately owned. 



Free. The free alewif e fisheries are the poorest producers, 

 in some cases because the fishery is valueless, in others because 

 the fishery is free. As the name implies, it gives any inhabitant 

 of the town the privilege of catching alewives subject only to 

 general regulations in regard to time, manner and place of 

 capture. In most cases these regulations either do not exist 

 or are not enforced. Usually the town is completely indifferent 

 to the welfare of the fishery, and in maintaining it, follows the 

 lines of least resistance. 



Town-operated. In a few cases the fishery is operated di- 

 rectly by the town, and the upkeep of the stream as well as 

 the cost of catching is carried by the town as a straight busi- 

 ness venture. Our observations indicate that this method has 

 given uniformly poor results because of the inability of the 

 town officials to run a commercial fishery as economically as a 

 private business. 



Leased. Most fisheries are leased, i.e., sold to the highest 

 bidder at public auction. As a rule, this method of handling 

 the fishery when properly regulated is more successful than the 

 first two, but careless town management favors the exploita- 

 tion of the fishery by the purchaser, and an unscrupulous or 

 ignorant purchaser can readily ruin any alewife stream under 

 the elastic regulations ordinarily in force. Carefully regulated, 

 the lease system may become of great benefit to the alewife 

 fishery. All fisheries are not leased under the same regulations. 

 Nearly every town has special rules regarding the length of 

 lease, the days for catching, and the privileges granted to towns- 

 people for obtaining alewives. The method of sale differs, the 

 price depending upon the success of the fishery and the expense 

 of its operation. The fisheries may be leased as follows : 



(1) Long Lease. Mill River, Sandwich, furnishes an exam- 



