[101] HISTORY OF THE MACKEREL FISHERY. 191 



it will give the fish the appearance of being much fatter than it really 

 is. As previously stated, the depth of the "break" is the test of the 

 fatness of the fish, and is the guide by which the inspectors cull them 

 into the different grades for market, provided always that they are of 

 suitable size. Stringent laws have in past years been enacted in most 

 of the New England States to regulate the method of inspecting mack- 

 erel, and the use of any artificial means to fatten them was for many 

 years strictly prohibited. The introduction of the mackerel plow, like 

 that of many other inventions, was the direct result of a need long felt 

 by fishermen. Previous to its adoption it was the custom for the fisher- 

 men to attempt to improve the looks of their fish by increasing the nat- 

 ural break with their thumb-nails drawn along its entire length. This 

 method was called " rubbing the mackerel." Later a few began to use 

 the back of the point of their bait-knives or splitting-knives for this pur- 

 pose, by degrees venturing to place the c«it a little higher than where it 

 naturally belonged. The use of knives led to the introduction of plows, 

 which soon came into general use, though the fishermen at first felt some 

 hesitation about revealing the fact that their fish had been plowed.* 



A comparatively poor mackerel would not open sufficiently in a 

 natural way to pass for a No. 2, but the fishermen give them an invit- 

 ing appearance to the buyer by the use of the plow, which they handle 

 with remarkable dexterity, running the blade longitudinally along each 

 side of the abdominal cavity with great rapidity, laying the sides of 

 the fish open in such a manner that it may i^ass for a No. 2, and, per- 

 haps, if it is of large size, a fairly fat fish may be culled as a No. 1 mack- 

 erel. It is but fair to say here that, since the general adoption of the 

 mackerel plow as a means of "fattening" the fish, the subject is so 

 well understood by the dealers that they demand a finer looking fish 

 than formerly, and the consumer, therefore, actually gets as good an 

 article as before, and one that is much more attractive. This is espe- 

 cially the case when the size of the mackerel is not sufficient to pass for 

 the best quality, or No. 1. A fish whose length is 13 inches and " of 



* From a circular addressed to the masters and crews of mackerel Tessels by Hon. 

 James Barry, inspector-general of pickled fish for Massachusetts, dated May 2, 1832, 

 we quote the following in relation to the use of th^ mackerel plow: "It is a mis- 

 chievous error that fishermen have fallen into by salting their fish too slack, as has 

 been often the case ; and another by using the plow, which has given to the fish a false 

 appearance, and has been a source of mortification to the fishermen, and they have in 

 a great many instances found fault with the inspectors when the fault belonged to- 

 themselves in not taking care of the fish which it was their duty to do, and which in 

 many cases has been a ruinous business to purchasers. By a law of the common- 

 wealth the inspector is required to throw into an inferior quality all mackerel which 

 have been plowed, cut, or mutilated for the purpose of deception. It can be of no 

 advantage to the fishermen, and I trust \vill never again be done." 



Capt. N. E. Atwood says that some of the fishermen made mackerel plows with 

 "the ends tipped with pewter and fine teeth on the edges so as to make the creas© 

 look rough, as though it was broken naturally; others had a knife in the end which, 

 cut them [the mackerel] smoothly." 



