XXVI EEPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH. AND FISHERIES. 



Table estimating by fisheries the total number, tonnage, and value of New England vessels, 

 ivith the number of men thereon, etc. — Continued. 



SUMMARY. 



State. 



Maine 



New Hampshire 

 Massachusetts.. 



Klioile Island . .. 

 Connecticut 



Total 



No. 



5G7 



20 



. 025 



64 



280 



Tons. 



18, 850 



600 



80, 850 



1,460 



7, 370 



Value. 



$940, 000 

 30, 000 



4, (108, 000 

 188,000 

 476, 550 



1, 050 115, 130 ! 5, 042, 550 



No. of 

 men. 



3,720 



120 



12, 540 



39G 



1, 220 



17, 



Question 6. "What change has, in your view, come to American fisheries since the 

 last full year of the Washington treaty in regard to the character, quantity, and 

 general features of that industry ? " 



There has been little change in the fisheries other thau the mackerel fishery during 

 the past year. In this fishery the scarcity of mackerel has been very marked and the 

 catch has been much below that of the average year. The decrease, however, can be 

 in no way attributed to the abrogation of the Treaty of Washington, but must rather 

 be accounted for by natural causes which have affected the abundance, movements, 

 and locality of the species. 



For several years prior to 1886 mackerel appeared in more than average quantities, 

 and for eight or ten years, ending with 1885, they have been much more plentiful on 

 our own coast than on any portion of that of British North America. For this reason 

 the lleet of American mackerel vessels visiting waters in the vicinity of British terri- 

 tory has of late been very small. In 1885, out of a total of about 380,000 barrels 

 caught by our fleet, only 120,000 barrels, or less than 7 per cent., were taken in the 

 vicinity of Canada, the quantity obtained within the 3-mile limit being only 3,564 

 barrels. The fact that, during a season when permission had been given to allow 

 American vessels to fish anywhere in the waters of British North America without 

 restriction as to distance from shore, less than 1 per cent, of the catch of our mackerel 

 fleet was secured within 3 miles of British territory, and that more than 93 per cent, 

 of the total catch of mackerel was obtained in the vicinity of our own coast, is cer- 

 tainly significant. 



During the present year mackerel have been peculiarly scarce in all localities, 

 though for the first time in eight or ten years they have been more abundant in the 

 Gulf of St. Lawrence than off the New England coast, and a large percentage of the 

 American vessels employed in the fishery have visited that locality. The catch has, 

 as a rule, been unusually small, but the price has increased in proportion, so that the 

 season for some of the vessels has not been wholly unprofitable. The limited catch 

 can not in any way be accounted for by the restrictions placed upon our vessels within 

 tin' 3-mile limit, for their catch, as previously stated, has been equal to that of the 

 Canadian vessels that fished without restriction as to distance from the shore. 



The vessels engaged in the cod-fishery have met with more than average success. 

 This is partially attributed to the fact that the squid, used for bait, have been very 

 plenty during the summer and fall mouths on the fishing-grounds. It has. not in- 

 frequently occurred that vessels have sailed without any bait, depending upon the 

 supply that they could catch on the Banks upwards of a hundred miles from shore. 

 Question 7. "Your Commission has, in its annual reports, alluded to the diminished 

 necessity on the part of American fishermen to go to British North American ports 

 or waters for bait. What aro the new features of that necessity ?" 

 A few years ago the United States Fish Commission obtained from Norway a num- 

 ber of gill-nets suitable for catching codfish, aud used them -with success in the cod- 

 fisheries about Gloucester, Mass. Similar nets are now made in this country, aud are 

 extensively employed by the shore cod-fishermen of that vicinity, who obtain large 



