I 42 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [52] 



of barrels.* Vessels wliich take their fish fresh to market carry from 175 

 to 250 barrels ; those intending to salt their fish carry from 175 to 500 

 barrels, about one-third of this number being Oiled with salt, which is 

 used in cnriug the fish, and serves in the meautirae as ballast. 



Wellfleet has a three-masted schooner, the " Carrie D. Allen," em- 

 ployed in the mackerel fishery ; her burthen is 175 tons, and she carries 

 25 men.t 



14. — Apparatus and method of fishing. 



(a) The seme-boat and its fittings. — The boats used by the Gloucester 

 fleet in the purse-seine fishery are built after a ijeculiar model and solely 

 for this purpose. The present form of the seine-boat was devised about 

 the year lHo7 by Messrs. Higgius & Gifi'ord, boat-builders, Gloucester, 

 Mass.f The seines had previously been set from square- sterned, lap- 

 streak boats, about 28 feet in length, and resembling in shape an ordi- 

 nary ship's yawl. 



The seine-boat, as now in use, resembles the well-known whale-boat, 

 differing from it, however, in some important particulars. 



The seine-boat, according to Mr. Gifford, must have three qualities: 

 (1) It should tow well ; consequently it is made sharpest forw^ard. A 

 whale-boat, on the other hand, is sharpest aft, to facilitate backing 

 after the whale has been struck. (2) It should row well, and this qual- 



' Vessels wliich carry a mackerel pocket or "spiller" are provided with outrijjgers 

 ou the starboard side and other necessary arraugemeuts for its proi)er mauagement. 

 All of the seiners also have an outrigger on the j>ort side, by the fore rigging, to fasten 

 the seine- boat to. 



tThe three-masted schooner " Carrie D. Allen," of Wellfleet, Capt. Darius Newcomb, 

 arrived at Gloucester, June 18, 1874, with 900 barrels of mackerel. Ouly vessel of her 

 elass in the coast fisheries ; 175 tons, carries 25 men. — (Cape Ann Advertiser, Juno 26, 

 1874.) 



tCapt. George Merchant, jr., of Gloucester, Mass., claims to bave been the liret to 

 design and introduce the form of seine-boat now universally employed in the mackerel 

 lishery, and which has been used to some extent in the meuhadeu fishery since 1857. 



In 1856, while engaged in fishing for menhaden, he carried two boats, one of which 

 was a whale-boat of the ordinary type. The latter, which he used for a "second boat," 

 l)roved very serviceable — rowing and towing easily, and turning quickly — and was 

 much better adapted for seining than the old-fashionttl square-sterned seine-boats 

 which were in general use at that time. Captain Merchant therefore conceived the 

 idea that a decided improvement could be made in seine-boats by building them on 

 the same general plan as the whale-boat, through making them somewhat wider than 

 the latter, especially towards the stern, so that they would be better able to bear up 

 the seine. Having decided on the dimensions required, Captain Merchant wrote to 

 Mr. Higgins (now the senior partner of the celebrated boat-building firm of Higgins 

 & Giftbrd, Gloucester, Mass.), who was then at Proviucetown, desiring the latter to 

 build a boat 21 feet long and according to tht' plan snl)uiitted, and which should be 

 ready for the season of 1857. 



Many of the old fishermen laughed at the idea of attempting to use a sharp-sterned 

 boat for purse-seiniug, declaring that it would ui)set while the seine was being "pursed 

 up," that it would tow under, and making other uufavorable predictions. Notwith- 

 standing their croakings, they soon became convinced of the good qualities of the new 

 boat, and in the following years hastened to adopt the same kind themselves. 



