numbered 329 and was valued at over $12 million ( Whale Fishery of New England 

 1968). 



The so-called "Golden Age" of whaling spanned the years 1825 to 1860. In 1875 

 the fleet in New Bedford's port had declined to 116, in 1886 to 77, and in 

 1906 to 24 ( Whale Fishery of New England 1968). Rhode Island's two major 

 whaling ports were Newport and Providence. In 1731 an act was passed giving 

 "a bounty of 5 shillings for every barrel of whale oil and one penny a pound 

 for bone" caught by Rhode Island vessels (Katona et al. 1977). A total of 50 

 ships was owned by Conecticut and Rhode Island in 1775, and Massachusetts 

 owned in excess of 300. New London, Connecticut, became a great whaling port 

 in 1846 and was considered third in importance in New England. Boston, 

 Massachusetts, was known to have 20 whaleships in 1775 and Portsmouth, New 

 Hampshire, had 2 whaling vessels at one time. 



About 1810, shore whaling began in Prospect, Maine, with an average catch of 6 

 or 7 whales per year, primarily humpback (Katona et al. 1977). Between the 

 years of 1835 to 1845 Bath, Bucksport, Portland, and Wiscasset, Maine, each 

 had one whaling vessel operating ( Whale Fishery of New England 1968). 



After 1895 only Boston, New Bedford, Provincetown, and San Francisco whalers 

 were regularly registerd. In 1903 Boston recorded her last whaleship (Mathews 

 1968). In 1925 the whaling schooners John R. Manta and Margarett returned to 

 the port of New Bedford, marking the end of the sailing whaleships (Whale 

 Fishery of New England 1968). 



The decline in whaling was due to a number of factors, including the 

 development of kerosene and other substitutes for whale products, the opening 

 of the first oil well in Pennsylvania, the rise of the cotton industry in New 

 Bedford around 1850 to 1875, the increased costs of outfitting the ships for 

 longer voyages and the coming of the Civil War, and probably the growing 

 scarcity of whales. 



During whaling's "Golden Age" men ventured out in 30-foot boats where "there 

 was always the chance of a fatal accident to someone in the boat, and 

 occasionally the chase took the whole crew so far from the ship that contact 

 was not reestablished. After these battles with the whales, which might have 

 lasted 12 hours or more, came the hard towing of the whale carcass back to the 

 ship and then, in succession, with no intermission, two dangerous and 

 fatiguing jobs," which involved the stripping of blubber and gathering of the 

 oil-bearing parts, along with the crude refining of the oil (Craig 1977). 

 Today's modern whale ships, better known as factory ships, are "capable of 

 reducing a 90-foot blue whale to unrecognizable 'products' in a half-hour" 

 (Hill 1975). 



During the 19th century a porpoise (harbor porpoise) fishery existed in the 

 Bay of Fundy and Grand Manan Island. It was believed that the Passamaquoddy 

 and Micmac Indian tribes captured several thousand porpoises yearly. Two to 

 three gallons of oil could be rendered from one porpoise. This oil was 

 marketed for lamps and lubricants. The porpoise fishery also was carried out 

 on an irregular basis throughout New England (Sergeant and Fisher 1957) . New 

 fisheries were common during the late 18th century for bottlenose dolphin 

 along Long Island and from Cape May, New Jersey, during the latter part of the 

 19th century. 



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