HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN MENHADEN. 83 



l!f . B. Tower, of Cohasset, states tliat meuhaden are taken in the weirs 

 located in tUat town. Mr. A. J. Hathaway estimates the annual catch 

 at 10 barrels. 



John W. Cook, of South Dartmouth, estimates the catch for 1877 at 

 30,000 barrels or 9,990,000 fish. 



Warren A. Gifibrd, of Dartmouth, puts the catch of that town at 465 

 barrels. 



Capt. Darius F. Weekes, of South Harwich, reports "thousands of 

 barrels." 



Capt. Remark Chase, of West Harwich, who sets a small weir for shad, 

 herring, and pogies, reports about 2,000 barrels of the latter. 



At South Westport, according to Capt. John W. Gifford, there are 

 five seines li'O fathoms long and 20 feet deep used in the capture of 

 menhaden. Their average annual catch is about 300 barrels. Mr. 

 Gifltbrd thinks that 1,500 barrels are taken annually in Westport. 



Capt. Eldad Gill, of North Eastham, estimates the catch for that place 

 at three or four barrels. 



Mr. Alouzo F. Lathrop, of Hyannis, Mass., thinks that the number of 

 pogies is increasing, though it was not so great in 1873 as in 1874 or 

 the prec4idlng years. They are quite as numerous as other fish, and are 

 not perceptibly affected by fishing. Alexander Crowell testified June 

 29, 1871, that meuhaden were more scarce.* 



At Edgartown, Mass., and about Martha's Vineyard, they are more 

 numerous than any other species. Five thousand barrels were taken in 

 1873 by the pounds; 10,000 in 1872. Fishing is not thought to affect 

 their abundance. According to Mr. ]\Iarchant and Mr. Luce, they are 

 not more or less abuudant than they were ten years ago. 



In the weir at Menemsha Bight, owned by Jason Luce & Co., the 

 number of barrels of menhaden taken in 18G9 (April 4 to June 7) was 

 3,590; in 1870 (April 14 to June 8), 1,375; in 1871 (April 14 to June 

 9), 3,200; in 1872, 3,800. 



At a conference on the subject of fisheries at Edgartown, Martha's 

 Vineyard, September 27, 1871, Captain Eease, acting as spokesman for 

 a number of other fishermen, gave the following testimony : 



" The law ought to be uniform. One reason why the pounds were not 

 stopped by the legislature of Massachusetts was, that the Proviucetown 

 people made a statement that they could not fit out their vessels with 

 bait unless they had pounds to catch it for them. 



" Question. Could they ? 



"Answer. How did they do it before ? They had the same facilities 

 then as now. They used to send to Xova Scotia for bait ; now they use 

 only menhaden and herring for bait. Menhaden are getting scarce. The 

 harbor used to be full when I was a boy; but it is a rare thing to find 

 any here now, because they are caught up. They don't catch them at 

 Saughkonet Eocks as they used to. If they keep on catching them up 

 * Report of United States Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries, 1871-72, p. 49. 



