[145] HISTORY OF THE MACKEREL FISHERY. 



so that it became necessary to designate them from the North No. 3's 

 by the word ' South.' Now it is the reverse. 



"This year the fishermen found more of the middling-size mackerel at 

 the south and in the latitude of Block Island than formerly, and, as the 

 law did not oblige the inspector to cull these mackerel and make two 

 numbers, the fishermen insisted upon their being packed and branded 

 according to the letter of the law under the brand South No. 3. 



"As soon as those mackerel came into market and the true condition 

 of the fish became known the prices began to recede. Upon learning this 

 fact, it was immediately recommended to the fishermen and inspectors 

 to cull their mackerel and make two qualities of South No. 3, which 

 was, I believe, generally adopted. Thus we shall have four qualities of 

 No. 3's, when, in fact, we ought to have but two, viz, large and small. 

 I have thought proper to make this statement to inform the consumers 

 and dealers in fish against any error they might be led into, supposing 

 that all the mackerel packed in 1845 branded South are all large fish. 



"E. H. LITTLE, 

 " Inspector- General of Fish. 



"July 14,1845." 



Capt. N. E. Atwood, of Provincetown, Mass., gives the following ac- 

 count of the past and present methods employed for curing mackerel 

 by salting and pickling : 



"Some sixty years ago the method of catching mackerel with jig 

 came into general use, so that in 1820 a large fleet of vessels were en- 

 gaged in this branch of the fishery, fishing off the coast of Massachusetts 

 and of Maine through the summer and autumn. Before the jig was 

 introduced the quantity of mackerel taken was comparatively small ; 

 they were mostly caught by trailing while the vessel or boat was sailing 

 through the waters, only a few being captured In nets. When the jig 

 came into use the way of fishing on board of mackerel vessels was by 

 hauling down the jib and laying the other sails in such a way that the 

 vessel would drift squarely to leeward. Bait chopped hue was thrown 

 overboard in very small quantities, so as to keep a small string of bait 

 going from the vessel all the time, an'd the school of mackerel, meeting 

 this bait, would follow it up to the vessel and bite at the jigs, so that the 

 fishermen would not have to wait for a bite while the fish was inclined 

 to take the hook. In this way a number of barrels of fish conld be 

 taken in a short time, and a crew of ten men could catch in an hour or 

 two from ten to twenty barrels, sometimes more and many times much 

 less, or very few. As soon as the fish ceased biting, the crew engaged 

 in dressing them, making three gangs of two or three men each, one 

 man to split the fish and two to gib. The splitter as he splits them 

 throws them into a gib tub; the gibbers take each an empty barrel and 

 put iu it two buckets of water ; they then commence to gib, taking up 

 a single fish and opening it suddenly with a jerk, which causes them 

 to break lengthwise along the lower end of their ribs if they are fat. 



