BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 155 



On the morning of January 19 she got 18,000 pounds in one haul. The 

 schooner Christie Campbell had 10,000 hooks set abreast of the nets at 

 the same time, and caught 37 fish. Captain Martin sold his catch to-day 

 at $1.40 a hundred pounds. The following vessels, are having nets 

 made : Schooner Emma L. Osier, 18 nets 50 fathoms long ; schooner 

 Defiance, 15 nets ; schooner David A. Osier, 18 nets. Some of the men 

 that are going in small boats are knitting two nets each. John Pew 

 has a vessel which is going to carry nets to the Grand Banks. Captain 

 Wheeler, of the schooner Defiance, went to Boston yesterday and or- 

 dered 900 fathoms. I think that next month all the boats will have nets. 

 The net company ought to give Captain George a gang of nets. It 

 has more orders than it can fill in three weeks. The glass-blowers 

 told Captain Wheeler that they had 2,500 balls to blow. There were 

 five masters of vessels over to see Captain Martin to find out how the 

 nets are set and how they are rigged. Some think that if all have nets 

 they will not get so many fish. It is suggested that the bait on the 

 trawls toles the fish. The complaint is made that if all have nets of 

 10-inch mesh they will not get any small fish to cut up ; so much the 

 better; the large ones will fetch a higher price. Captain Martin thinks 

 the nets are good things, because they give the small fish a chance to 

 grow. He does not think they will hurt the fishing as much as the 

 trawls.  In the nets they get all that 'vmesh," while on the trawl the 

 fish often break the gangings and go off with the hooks in their throats, 

 which soon kill them. 



Captain Martin in six trips has landed 120,000 pounds of fish, which 

 were all sold round. He did not have a hundred pounds of small ones ; 

 while some of the trawlers got one-third small. The bait-bill of some of 

 the vessels that started when he did is $380. The men on the herring 

 vessels swear at the nets because they think none of the shore boats 

 will buy bait after this month. 



Gloucester, Mass., January 22, 1881. 



The vessels with cod gill-nets are doing well. The schooner Defiance, 

 with eighteen nets, got 45,000 pounds in seven nights. The schooner 

 Morrill Boy, with twelve nets, got 24,000 pounds in five nights. The 

 schooner Emma S. Osier, with eighteen nets, got 54,000 pounds in ten 

 nights. The ISorthern Eagle got 12,000 pounds in three nights. There 

 are several more which I have not heard from; they do not bring their 

 fish to Gloucester, as they can get a better price at Portsmouth, and 

 they do not have to come for bait. It bothers the fishermen why they 

 cannot get big fish on the trawls. The average weight of the trawl 

 fish last week was 10 pounds ; of those. caught in nets, 22 J pounds. 



There are are now 10 vessels altogether which have nets. The 

 weather during the past week has been cold and foggy. There are in 

 Gloucester 200 nets. When they all are in use we shall hear of good 

 work. I am watching to get some spawn. I think some of the boats 



