﻿THE 
  HERRING 
  FISHERIES 
  OF 
  THE 
  NORTHEAST 
  COAST. 
  425 
  

  

  The 
  decrease 
  in 
  the 
  catch 
  upon 
  the 
  United 
  States 
  shore 
  in 
  1895 
  as 
  

   compared 
  with 
  1893 
  was 
  principally 
  in 
  West 
  Quoddy 
  Bay, 
  the 
  cause 
  

   being 
  an 
  economic 
  one 
  rather 
  than 
  due 
  to 
  a' 
  falling 
  off 
  in 
  abundance. 
  

   The 
  herring 
  in 
  1895 
  came 
  to 
  West 
  Quoddy 
  late 
  in 
  the 
  season, 
  as 
  is 
  their 
  

   custom, 
  but 
  as.the 
  operatives 
  in 
  tlie 
  sardine 
  factories 
  were 
  on 
  a 
  strike, 
  

   the 
  fish 
  could 
  not 
  be 
  utilized 
  and 
  were 
  allowed 
  to 
  escape 
  from 
  the 
  weirs. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  light 
  of 
  all 
  the 
  evidence 
  procurable 
  there 
  is 
  but 
  little 
  to 
  

   support 
  the 
  view 
  that 
  herring 
  are 
  decreasing 
  in 
  the 
  vicinity 
  of 
  Pas- 
  

   samaquoddy 
  Bay 
  owing 
  to 
  vast 
  nuuibers 
  of 
  young 
  consumed 
  in 
  the 
  

   sardine 
  business 
  or 
  to 
  the 
  fishing 
  methods 
  to 
  which 
  it 
  has 
  given 
  rise. 
  

   If 
  interpreted 
  strictly, 
  the 
  figures 
  cited 
  in 
  the 
  foregoing 
  would 
  indicate 
  

   an 
  actual 
  increase, 
  but 
  as 
  this 
  would 
  be 
  "proving 
  too 
  much 
  " 
  the 
  argu- 
  

   ment 
  will 
  not 
  be 
  pressed. 
  It 
  can 
  be 
  asserted, 
  however, 
  with 
  perfect 
  

   confidence, 
  that 
  there 
  is 
  nothing 
  in 
  the 
  recent 
  condition 
  of 
  the 
  fishery 
  

   to 
  warrant 
  anxiety 
  concerning 
  its 
  future. 
  

  

  Those 
  who 
  have 
  claimed 
  that 
  the 
  herring 
  have 
  decreased 
  have 
  given 
  

   a 
  number 
  of 
  reasons 
  to 
  account 
  for 
  the 
  falling 
  otf. 
  When 
  the 
  fishery 
  

   in 
  West 
  Quoddy 
  failed 
  in 
  1868 
  it 
  was 
  said 
  to 
  be 
  owing 
  to 
  the 
  increased 
  

   number 
  of 
  large 
  weirs 
  cutting 
  off 
  the 
  ingress 
  of 
  the 
  fish, 
  and 
  it 
  was 
  

   supposed 
  that 
  this 
  also 
  caused 
  the 
  failure 
  in 
  jdaces 
  in 
  Cobscook 
  Bay. 
  

   It 
  was 
  claimed 
  that 
  tlie 
  herring 
  formerly 
  entered 
  Passamaquoddy 
  

   Bay 
  by 
  this 
  route, 
  and 
  that 
  when 
  the 
  passage 
  was 
  closed 
  up 
  by 
  the 
  

   weirs 
  the 
  herring 
  moved 
  eastward 
  and 
  entered 
  by 
  the 
  Head 
  Harbor 
  

   passage. 
  In 
  1893-94, 
  according 
  to 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  best-informed 
  men 
  in 
  

   the 
  region, 
  the 
  fish 
  came 
  out 
  of 
  Lubec 
  Narrows, 
  and 
  the 
  same 
  authority 
  

   states 
  that 
  this 
  is 
  the 
  way 
  they 
  always 
  did, 
  and, 
  moreover, 
  the 
  care- 
  

   fully 
  prepared 
  chart 
  of 
  the 
  region 
  made 
  in 
  the 
  summer 
  of 
  1893 
  shows 
  

   that 
  the 
  pounds 
  are 
  arranged 
  to 
  catch 
  fish 
  passing 
  out 
  rather 
  than 
  in. 
  

   If 
  this 
  be 
  correct, 
  it 
  indicates 
  that 
  the 
  weirs 
  in 
  Lubec 
  Narrows 
  were 
  

   not 
  responsible 
  for 
  the 
  falling 
  oft' 
  in 
  Cobscook 
  Bay. 
  

  

  If 
  the 
  herring 
  had 
  been 
  simply 
  blocked 
  out 
  of 
  the 
  waters 
  by 
  the 
  great 
  

   number 
  and 
  large 
  size 
  of 
  the 
  weirs 
  in 
  West 
  Quoddy 
  and 
  the 
  Narrows 
  

   it 
  would 
  seem 
  probable 
  that 
  they 
  would 
  return 
  soon 
  after 
  the 
  number 
  

   was 
  decreased. 
  The 
  fishery 
  failed 
  in 
  1808, 
  and 
  after 
  a 
  futile 
  mainte- 
  

   nance 
  for 
  several 
  years 
  a 
  number 
  of 
  the 
  weirs 
  fell 
  into 
  utter 
  ruin. 
  Yet, 
  

   for 
  twenty-five 
  years 
  the 
  number 
  of 
  herring 
  caught 
  there 
  was 
  barely 
  

   sufficient 
  to 
  i)ay 
  expenses. 
  The 
  disappearance 
  and 
  reappearance 
  of 
  the 
  

   herring 
  from 
  this 
  locality 
  is, 
  in 
  the 
  absence 
  of 
  sufficient 
  data, 
  at 
  

   present 
  inexplicable. 
  

  

  Another 
  hypothesis 
  upon 
  which 
  it 
  was 
  sought 
  to 
  exi)lain 
  the 
  late 
  

   absence 
  of 
  herring 
  from 
  the 
  immediate 
  vicinity 
  of 
  Eastport 
  is 
  that 
  of 
  

   pollution 
  of 
  the 
  water 
  by 
  the 
  oftal 
  discharged 
  by 
  the 
  sardine 
  fiictories. 
  

   It 
  is 
  stated 
  that 
  the 
  failure 
  of 
  the 
  weirs 
  began 
  in 
  the 
  vicinity 
  of 
  the 
  

   factories 
  and 
  gradually 
  progressed 
  along 
  shore. 
  A 
  number 
  of 
  specific 
  

   cases 
  were 
  cited 
  as 
  illustrations 
  of 
  this; 
  the 
  weirs 
  at 
  Harris 
  Head, 
  

   Kendall 
  Head, 
  and 
  Gleason 
  Cove, 
  on 
  the 
  United 
  States 
  side 
  above 
  

   Eastport, 
  and 
  at 
  Indian 
  Island, 
  op|)osite 
  Eastport, 
  being 
  examples. 
  

  

  