WALLEM 0\ AMERICAN FISHERIES. 



HI 



a portion of tlic seiue on board, and the takin^^- in the lish was about to 

 begin. But the fish were very uneasy in the seine ; sunk to the bottom 

 with such force that the boat was on the point of capsizing, although we 

 l)laced eight men on the other gunwall; to counterbalance the mackerel. 

 At one time all went smoothly enough to haul in on the seine and make 

 the purse smaller and smaller to prevent the frantic rushing of the mack- 

 erel. But suddenly they sank again to the bottom, careened the boat 

 over so that we took in a quantity of water. We were scarcely ready to 

 place ourselves on the other gunwale when we felt that the boat sud- 

 denly righted itself and lay still. The most knew what had happened; 

 it Avas that the mackerel succeeded in breaking the old seine. Through 

 a large hole, which became larger and larger, about the whole school 

 escaped ; and although we in all haste hauled in on the fragments and 

 tried to form a new purse, w^e succeeded in saving not more than five in 

 the whole oOO barrels. 



At 9.15 we set sail for the nearest i)ort ; it was considered useless to 

 attempt to mend the more than half worn-out seine. After a day's quick 

 sailing, we reached Boothbay late in the evening. In the harbor lay 

 a schooner just arrived, which was filled to the rail with fresh-caught 

 mackerel. The crew worked the whole night in preserving them. With 

 resignation our crew saw this work. Had we had a better seine, we 

 would also have had remunerative night-work in salting some hundred 

 barrels of mackerel. The next morning I left the vessel, to return to 

 Gloucester by steamer and railroad. 



In this way GOO to 700 schooner-rigged vessels carry on mackerel- 

 catching out in the sea, and almost exclusively with purse-seines. They 

 are of from 120 to 150 tons burden, and 10 to 11 men for crew. I have 

 seen the statement that one, as a rule, can calculate that each schooner 

 during the summer catches 1,000 barrels, at $10.92, which would give 

 $0,552,000 or $7,644,000 as the aggregate profit. The catch, however, 

 is quite variable ; some successful vessels have caught many thousand 

 barrels in a season. The fishing begins in April or May, far south on 

 the coast. Then the mackerel are fat. The fishing-fleet follows them 

 northward week after week, and in July or August they have advanced 

 as far north as Nova Scotia. Thereupon they bear southward again. 

 The mackerel have now become very fat and large; the catch is th(5n at 

 its best. In September the schools are in full retreat to the warmer 

 waters again; and in October and November the fishing closes. 



Salted mackerel are submitted to public inspection. They are assorted 

 into three numbers, the prices of which in August, 1S7G, are subjoined 

 here : 



