198 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [108] 



other occasion a catch lasted three nights, when he alone caught mack- 

 erel enough of the best quality to make sixteen barrels when packed.* 



In Gloucester harbor and at other points on the coast of Massachu- 

 setts and Maine they are set in shallow water, one or both ends being 

 anchored and their position marked by buoys on each end of the gang. 

 When set thus in protected harbors they are ordinarily placed across 

 the direction of the tide, usually in a cove or bight of the harbor where 

 the mackerel are known to occur, and where they are out of the track 

 of vessels. 



The most extensive " drag-net fishery" is carried on by the vessels of 

 Portland and Friendship, Me. The method employed by these fisher- 

 men six years ago was somewhat as follows : The vessels are small 

 schooners of 15 to 25 tons. They usually run out from the harbor near 

 the close of the day, timing their departure so that they will be upon 

 the fishing grounds about sunset, except when it is necessary to go a 

 long distance out to sea, in which case, of course, the time of starting 

 Is earlier. Beaching a locality where mackerel are supposed to be 

 abundant the vessel is hove to, and a gang of 10 to 20 nets is paid out. 

 The nets are fastened together at top and bottom, and the outer end is 

 marked by a buoy, other buoys being distributed along the gang at in- 

 tervals, the junction between each pair of nets being generally marked 

 by a keg or spar. To the last net is fastened a roije called a " net swing," 

 corresponding to the "fleeth-rope" used by the herring fishermen of 

 Europe. This is a rope of three inches in circumference and GO to 70 

 fathoms long. It is paid out to its full length and made fast at the bow 

 of the vessel. The foresail is then lowered down and furled, and the 

 vessel lies head to the wind, drifting to leeward and dragging the nets 

 as she goes. If the wind is moderate the whole mainsail is kept up, 

 but if the breeze is fresh, or what is called a mackerel breeze, it is 

 reefed. Under favorable circumstances the nets are allowed to remain 

 out all night, but the fishermen in the two dories row constantly along 

 the nets back and forth noticing the movements of the fish, and espe- 

 cially looking out for the approach of dogfish. When a school of dog- 

 fish api)roaches the nets after any number of mackerel have been gilled 

 it is at once necessary to take them in less the dogfish should devour 

 the mackerel, chew innumerable holes in the twine, and roll themselves 

 up in it until it is so twisted and tangled that it takes the labor of days 

 to get it in proper condition for setting again. If the fishermen are not 

 annoyed by dogfish the nets are allowed to remain down, as has been 

 stated, all night long, and the men in the dories constantly pick out 

 tlie fish, frequently carrying their catch back to the vessel. When the 

 dogfish attack the nets they haul them in with the utmost expedition 

 and bundle them as hurriedly as possible into the bottom of the dory, 

 and after they have lifted them to the deck of the vessel take out the 

 fish from among the meshes. 



* Captain Atwood, Proc. Bos. Soc. Nat., x, 1865-'66. 



