XVII.-NOTES ON THE NEW ENGLAND FISHERY FOR SWORD- 

 FISH DURING THE SEASON OF 1884. 



By A. HowAKD Clark. 



The following brief notes on the swordfish fishery were gathered dur- 

 ing a visit to Gloucester, Mass., in September and October, 1884, and 

 are supplementary to the paper by Mr. G. Brown Goode, entitled " j\Iate- 

 rials for a History of Swordlishes," published in the Fish Commissiou 

 Report for 1880. 



This industry was of unusual importance in 1884; the fish were very 

 abundant and a large number of vessels were engaged in their capture. 

 In i)revious years the fleet had not exceeded fifty sail, but this year it 

 numbered over one hundred vessels. The catch, including those taken 

 by the regular fleet, by mackerel and cod vessels, and by others, is esti- 

 mated at 7,000 fish, equal to nearly 2,000,000 pounds weight, and valued 

 at $60,000. 



The season began on the usual grounds oft' Montauk Point, Long 

 Island, on June 9, when, according to Captain Gooding, the first cap- 

 ture was made by the schooner Emma. On June 15 Captain Warren 

 Ball, of boat Active, made the first capture in the vicinity of Block 

 Island. As the fish became more plentiful the fleet increased in size 

 until it numbered thirty sail from ports between Block Island, Xew 

 London, and Wellfleet. Some of these vessels continued the fishery 

 south of Cape Cod throughout the summer, but most of them by the 

 latter part of July had changed their cruising grounds to the Gulf of 

 Maine, where the fish were larger and in greater abundance than on the 

 southern grounds. During August the northern fleet was gradually 

 augmented by vessels from Massachusetts and Maine ports, led into 

 this fisherj^ b^' the scarcity of hake and other species, and the promise 

 of a profitable swordfish season. At the beginning of September nearly 

 a hundred vessels were cruising between Cajjc Ann and Grand Manan 

 Bank, in the Bay of Fundy. 



The best fishing grounds in August were on the inner Jeffries and 

 from 12 to 15 miles offshore from Boon Island and Wood Island, Maine. 

 The nearest inshore that fish were captured was within 3 to 4 miles 

 of the coast. At some seasons many of the fleet cruise on George's 

 Bank, but this year none of them went there except the schooner Emma 

 (Dlifton. A number of swordfish were taken on George's by the regular 

 cod fishermen, who report the fish very abundant there, particularly on 

 the southeast part of the Bank. 



[1] 2:W 



