﻿THE 
  HERRING 
  FISHERIES 
  OF 
  THE 
  NORTHEAST 
  COAST. 
  423 
  

  

  No. 
  64 
  got 
  100 
  hogsheads 
  in 
  1894, 
  and 
  in 
  1895, 
  to 
  about 
  August 
  20, 
  it 
  

   caught 
  40 
  hogsheads. 
  In 
  1894 
  it 
  caught 
  00 
  and 
  40 
  hogsheads 
  on 
  two 
  

   tides, 
  but 
  in 
  addition 
  about 
  60 
  hogsheads 
  were 
  released, 
  so 
  that 
  the 
  

   actual 
  catch 
  was 
  160. 
  

  

  No. 
  63 
  got 
  65 
  hogsheads 
  in 
  1894, 
  but 
  in 
  1895 
  had 
  caught 
  nothing 
  up 
  

   to 
  the 
  beginning 
  of 
  September. 
  These 
  weirs, 
  which 
  are 
  on 
  the 
  west 
  

   side 
  of 
  the 
  island, 
  are 
  all 
  relatively 
  small, 
  owing 
  to 
  the 
  rapid 
  deepening 
  

   of 
  the 
  water, 
  which 
  prevents 
  their 
  extension 
  far 
  from 
  shore. 
  

  

  On 
  the 
  east 
  side 
  the 
  weirs 
  appear 
  to 
  do 
  much 
  better. 
  Leonard's 
  

   weir, 
  to 
  August 
  15, 
  1895, 
  had 
  sold 
  about 
  200 
  hogsheads, 
  and 
  it 
  was 
  

   estimated 
  that 
  there 
  were 
  shut 
  in 
  at 
  that 
  time 
  about 
  50 
  hogsheads, 
  for 
  

   which 
  no 
  market 
  could 
  be 
  obtained. 
  

  

  At 
  Welch 
  Pool 
  and 
  Herring 
  Cove, 
  on 
  Campobello 
  it 
  was 
  stated 
  by 
  a 
  

   fisherman 
  of 
  60 
  years' 
  experience 
  that 
  — 
  

  

  We 
  catch 
  nearly 
  as 
  many 
  here 
  as 
  we 
  formerly 
  did, 
  but 
  the 
  season 
  has 
  grown 
  

   shorter. 
  Up 
  to 
  about 
  1883 
  we 
  used 
  to 
  catch 
  them 
  very 
  early 
  ; 
  when 
  our 
  weirs 
  were 
  

   not 
  destroyed 
  by 
  the 
  ice 
  we 
  have 
  got 
  them 
  in 
  March, 
  and 
  about 
  twenty 
  years 
  ago 
  we 
  

   made 
  a 
  good 
  haul 
  about 
  February 
  15, 
  when 
  we 
  broke 
  the 
  thin 
  surface 
  ice 
  in 
  the 
  pound 
  

   so 
  that 
  we 
  could 
  run 
  our 
  seine. 
  These 
  were 
  smaller 
  fish 
  than 
  the 
  regular 
  winter 
  

   run, 
  being 
  of 
  a 
  size 
  suitable 
  for 
  smoking. 
  The 
  fish 
  which 
  we 
  formerly 
  got 
  in 
  March 
  

   do 
  not 
  now 
  arrive 
  until 
  July. 
  This 
  change 
  began 
  about 
  1882 
  or 
  1883, 
  and 
  has 
  been 
  

   going 
  on 
  gradually 
  ever 
  since. 
  I 
  think 
  that 
  on 
  the 
  whole 
  the 
  herring 
  have 
  decreased. 
  

  

  Another 
  fisherman, 
  who 
  began 
  fishing 
  seventy 
  years 
  ago, 
  says 
  that 
  

   herring 
  in 
  this 
  region 
  have 
  been 
  decreasing 
  for 
  the 
  past 
  sixty 
  years. 
  

  

  During 
  1895 
  considerable 
  quantities 
  of 
  herring 
  were 
  taken 
  at 
  Harbor 
  

   de 
  Lute 
  throughout 
  the 
  entire 
  month 
  of 
  August, 
  and 
  it 
  was 
  said 
  that 
  

   a 
  similar 
  run 
  occurred 
  during 
  1894. 
  They 
  were 
  of 
  a 
  size 
  suitable 
  for 
  

   smoking, 
  and 
  similar 
  fish 
  were 
  caught 
  by 
  "drifting" 
  at 
  Deer 
  Island 
  at 
  

   about 
  the 
  same 
  time. 
  In 
  1895 
  there 
  appeared 
  to 
  be 
  fewer 
  sardine 
  

   herring 
  at 
  Campobello 
  than 
  at 
  other 
  places 
  in 
  the 
  vicinity. 
  

  

  At 
  Grand 
  Manan 
  the 
  season 
  of 
  1895, 
  up 
  to 
  Sej)tember 
  25, 
  the 
  time 
  of 
  

   my 
  departure 
  from 
  Eastport, 
  was 
  a 
  poor 
  one, 
  but 
  1893 
  and 
  1894 
  were 
  

   both 
  unusually 
  good. 
  In 
  1895 
  the 
  weirs 
  at 
  Seal 
  Cove, 
  High 
  Duck 
  Island, 
  

   and 
  other 
  places 
  caught 
  very 
  little. 
  At 
  Seal 
  Cove 
  they 
  usually 
  catch 
  

   considerable 
  quantities 
  of 
  "medium 
  stringing" 
  herring, 
  which 
  were 
  

   absent 
  in 
  1895. 
  Mr. 
  McLaughlin, 
  at 
  Southern 
  Head, 
  says 
  (1893): 
  

  

  The 
  herring 
  are 
  as 
  abundant 
  as 
  ever, 
  and 
  they 
  still 
  appear 
  in 
  enormous 
  shoals 
  in 
  

   the 
  Bay 
  of 
  Fundy 
  . 
  This 
  conservation 
  of 
  the 
  fishery, 
  in 
  s))ite 
  of 
  destructive 
  methods, 
  

   is 
  largely 
  due 
  to 
  the 
  opportunities 
  for 
  spawning 
  enjoyed 
  by 
  the 
  fisli 
  during 
  the 
  close 
  

   season 
  at 
  Southern 
  Head. 
  The 
  fish, 
  however, 
  keep 
  ofishore 
  more 
  than 
  formerly 
  and 
  

   I 
  attribute 
  this 
  to 
  the 
  pollution 
  of 
  the 
  shore 
  waters 
  by 
  lobster 
  pots, 
  trawls, 
  etc. 
  

  

  Mr. 
  Simeon 
  Cheney 
  says 
  (1893): 
  

  

  The 
  herring 
  are 
  certainlj"^ 
  as 
  plentiful 
  as 
  ever 
  in 
  the 
  open 
  waters, 
  but 
  they 
  are 
  kept 
  

   off 
  shore 
  by 
  pollution 
  of 
  tlie 
  water. 
  

  

  Captain 
  Pettes, 
  whose 
  observations 
  on 
  the 
  fisheries 
  of 
  Grand 
  Manan 
  

   extend 
  back 
  many 
  years, 
  states 
  that 
  of 
  late 
  he 
  has 
  seen 
  as 
  large 
  bodies 
  

   of 
  herring 
  as 
  ever 
  in 
  the 
  Bay 
  of 
  Fundy. 
  

  

  