[285] HISTORY OF THE MACKEREL FISHERY. 375 



1864. — Mackerel fishery in the gulf of maine. 



Mackerel appeared on the coast in great abundance during the early 

 part of the autumn. The crew of the little fishing schooner " Minnehaha," 

 of Swampscott, on the 18th of September, off' Boone Island, caught 350 

 barrels, and the crew of the " Flying Dart," of the same place, at another 

 point, took 130 barrels in some four hours. — (History of Lynn, Lewis 

 & Newhall, p. 478.) 



1864. — Gulf of saint Lawrence mackerel fishery. 



From the bay. — Quite a number of baymen have arrived the present 

 week, and a large portion of the fleet are on their way home. They 

 report mackerel very scarce for the present month and but little doing. 

 In view of these facts the market has been a little more active for the 

 past week, and quite a number of transactions have been effected at $12 

 and $15. Shore has also advanced in price, and the prospect now is 

 that still better prices will be obtained the coming month. Mackerel 

 are a staple, and there will doubtless be quite an active demand for them 

 during the fall and winter months. Our fishing firms acted very wisely 

 in not sacrificing their mackerel at panic prices, as we believe they will 

 yet obtain a fair equivalent for them and be enabled to make a very 

 good season's work. — (Cape Ann Advertiser, October, 1864.) 



1864. — EEMINISCENCES of CAPT. J. W. COLLINS. 



Mackerel have rarely or never been more abundant in the Gulf of 

 Saint Lawrence than they were in 1864, while on the New England coast 

 but little was done in this fishery. I sailed for the bay for mackerel in 

 the schooner ''Sea- Witch" early in July, passing through Canso about 

 the 10th of the month. We fished over the same ground that we did on 

 the first trip the previous year, obtaining a full fare of about 275 bar- 

 rels short of four weeks. We were absent from home five weeks and 

 three days. My own share, exclusive of captain's commission, was $175. 

 We returned again to the bay. Having secured another fare about the 

 last of September, and learning that the prospect on our own coast was 

 poor, we went to the Strait of Canso, where we shipped 200 barrels of 

 our fish on board a freighter and sent them home, while we refitted and 

 returned again to the bay. During the last of September and early part 

 of October the weather was stormy and the mackerel did not appear to 

 take the hook so well as they had previously. A few of the vessels, 

 however, in the mean time, had found very good fishing off Cheticamp, 

 but that locality being so dangerous in the fall, when heavy gales are 

 liable to come on very suddenly, and losses had so frequently occurred 

 in previous years, that the fishermen, as a rule, did not care to take the 

 risk of venturing on that inhospitable shore. For about two weeks after 

 refitting in Canso we did poorly, getting only 60 barrels mackerel, but 

 immediately after we, together with 50 or 60 other vessels, struck a 



