[107] HISTORY OF THE MACKEREL FISHERY. 



head up. One of the crew unheads them, another pitches the mack- 

 erel as wanted into a " culling-crib," which is made about three feet wide 

 and four feet long, with slat bottom, at each end of which stands an ex- 

 perienced and careful "culler," who tosses the mackerel according to 

 their grade into "culling tubs," which hold a half barrel each; two of 

 the crew then place the tubs when full on the platform of a beam scale 

 where the "weigher" weighs them off, crying out "barrel of one's," 

 or whatever the weight or grade requires; two of the crew empty them 

 into the "packing cribs," while the master places the account of it 

 under the name of the catcher, and the packer with a piece of red chalk 

 marks the head of the barrel or whatever package is used with the 

 grade of the mackerel. Half a bushel of salt to the barrel is used in 

 packing, after which the cooper takes them, and after putting in the 

 head it is rolled out on the wharf by a laborer and there bored and 

 pickled off by the "pickler." After being pickled off and bunged, 

 they are stood upon their head and branded with the deputy inspec- 

 tor's name and grade of the fish; the trip is sold by the owner with the 

 master, he acting for himself and crew; the voyage is then made up 

 in the ordinary manner. When the mackerel are delivered to the 

 packer the vessel and crew are done with them as producers. 



E.— THE MACKEREL GILL-NET FISHERY. 



30. — Implements, methods, and results of mackerel dragging-. 



Considerable quantities of mackerel are sometimes caught in gill- 

 nets at various points along the New England coast from Vineyard 

 Sound to Eastport. For the most part, however, they are taken west 

 of Mount Desert. This fishery is carried on in two ways : The gill-nets 

 may be anchored and left out over night, as is the custom about Prov- 

 incetown, or they may be set from a boat or vessel. The latter method 

 is called "dragging" ; the vessels are called " draggers," or " drag-boats," 

 and the fishermen "mackerel draggers." 



The mackerel gill-nets are 20 to 30 fathoms long, 21 fathoms deep, 

 with a mesh varying from 2J to 3 inches. In Provincetown harbor they 

 are set in the following manner: 



About the middle of November the fishermen of Provincetown Bay 

 begin to put out nets for the large mackerel on its return. On one oc- 

 casion Captain Atwood had twelve nets out, five miles from land. On 

 the last night of November ho had taken nothing, but on visiting the 

 nets the next day, he found they had sunk to the bottom filled with 

 mackerel. He, however, succeeded in getting up eight, and (he nets 

 as they came to the surface looked like a sheet of silver. Three thou- 

 sand three hundred and sixty mackerel were taken from these eight nets 

 by nightfall. The next day the remaining nets were dragged in and 

 1,700 more taken, making 5,000 fish uetted at a single catch. On an- 



