BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 207 



48.-KOTESON THE FISHERIES OF GLOUCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS. 



By S. J. MABTIW. 



[From letters to Prof. S. F. Baird.] 



The mackerel fishery.— There have been ten arrivals from the 

 Gulf of Saint Lawrence bringing 3,490 barrels of salt mackerel. All 

 report mackerel to be plenty in the vicinity of Prince Edward Island, and 

 some of the mackerel catchers are going back to the bay. The large 

 mackerel are scarce on this shore. I do not think mackerel come to the 

 surface much, for the following reason : 



Capt. George H. Martin came in last Monday with 130 barrels of 

 mackerel, 120 barrels of which he caught in one day, August 16, on the 

 western part of the Seal Island grounds. At sunrise the mackerel came 

 to the surface as far as the eye could see. He set a small seine and a 

 large one. In one hour after he had taken the 120 barrels, there was not 

 a fish to be seen. He staid on the same ground eleven weeks, when the 

 mackerel again came to the surface and staid half an hour. Some of 

 the vessels got good hauls. This has been the case off Mount Desert, 

 Matin icus, and Isle au Haut. The mackerel are full of red-seed, called 

 by the fishermen "cayenne." When the mackerel are plenty there are 

 also many birds hovering over the water. 



Porgies. — Porgies are plenty now. Nine vessels baited in Salem 

 Harbor. There are two vessels at Salem seining porgies. The weirs 

 at Portsmouth are full of porgies. There are also plenty at Newbury- 

 port and Hyannis. 



The cod iishermen on the Grand Banks are all coming home with full 

 fares, and they report a plenty of squid at the Grand Banks. 



Gloucester, Mass., August 22, 1883. 



Monthly summary.— The amount of fish landed at Gloucester dur- 

 ing the month of August was as follows: Eighteen vessels from the 

 Gulf of Saint Lawrence brought G,184 barrels of salt mackerel ; one 

 hundred vessels from the Eastern Shore landed 13,401 barrels of salt 

 mackerel ; 305 barrels were caught in traps in the vicinity of Cape 

 Ann ; one hundred and eight vessels arrived from Georges Bank with 

 1,808,0U0 pounds of salt cod, and 57,000 pounds of fresh halibut ; twenty 

 vessels arrived from the Western Bank with 122,000 pounds of salt 

 codfish, and 10,500 pounds of salt halibut; one vessel arrived from 

 Banquereau with 280,000 pounds of salt codfish, and 3,000 pounds of 

 salt halibut ; forty-two vessels from the Grand Banks brought 5,005,000 

 pounds of salt codfish and 01,000 pounds of salt halibut; nineteen ves- 

 sels from Grand Bank also brought 708,000 pounds of fresh halibut. 

 The shore vessels landed 19,(100 pounds of salt pollock, 24,000 pounds 



