REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [234] 



Some, it is stated, procured large fares (such, for instance, as the Ino, 

 which took 150 wash -barrels), while others did not catch a fish. For a 

 week or twopastthe bay has been thronged with fishermen. On Tuesday 

 last 280 sail could be distinctly seen. — Yarmouth Register. — (Gloucester 

 Telegraph, September 19, 1838). 



1838. — Scarcity of mackerel in bay saint lawrence. 



Captain Morgan, of schooner " Cossack," of Beverly, cod -fishing from 

 the Bay Chaleur, arrived here yesterday, reports that he was in the 

 harbor of Castle Bock (?) the 25th August, with 120 sail of mackerel 

 catchers. Mackerel were scarce, and none of the vessels in the harbor 

 exceeded 30 barrels, except two. Captain M. left the Gut the 3d of Sep- 

 tember ; saw a large number of vessels every day, but could hear of no 

 Yessels doing well. — (Gloucester Telegraph, September 22, 1838.) 



1839. — Abundance of mackerel in the bay of ftjndy. 



The Saint Andrews Standard says : " Our bay and coves have been 

 literally swarming with mackerel during the past week. Large quan- 

 tities have been caught in the weirs at Bocabec and along the shores." 

 The fishermen along our coast complain that the mackerel have all gone 

 away. It appears from the above that they are on a visit to the British 

 provinces. 



1839. — Mackerel fishing from cape ann. 



Cape Ann, says the Telegraph, as everybody knows, has always taken 

 the lead in the mackerel fishery, having a much larger number of ves- 

 sels engaged in it than any other place ; and the crews have in times 

 past made their calculations to land by this time and have landed their 

 200, 250, or 300 barrels each, whereas the largest fare that has been 

 brought in this season is 73 barrels, and the whole catch packed out 

 probably does not exceed 500. — (Barnstable Patriot, September 4, 1839.) 



1839 and 1840. — Captain Atwood's experience in the mackerel 



FISHERY. 



In 1839 I went in my own vessel, the "Lucy Mary," which was the 

 one in which I first went to the bay, to the Grand Bank. Mackerel were 

 scarce, and the prospect was discouraging, so 1 went cod-fishing, curing 

 the fish myself. I then hauled the vessel up and did not go for mack- 

 erel until 1840. I did not then go to the Grand Bank, and having no fish 

 to cure I had to go mackereling somewhere. There was at the time no 

 encouragement to fish for mackerel, either on our coast or in the Gulf of 

 Saint Lawrence, and as people had told me stories about mackerel being 

 found at the Azores, I was induced to fit out and go there. 



Q. Did you get any mackerel at the Azores? — A. No. — (Proceedings 

 Halifax Commission.) 



