REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [280] 



and the north side of Prince Edward Island, and around its eastern 

 point. Later in the fall we obtained some very good catches of mack- 

 erel off Cape Saint George, where there was a large fleet collected. 

 Other vessels, however, about the same time, took a considerable quan- 

 tity of mackerel about Margaree Island and Cheticamp. We left Port 

 Hood for home on the 1st day of November and met with very boister- 

 ous weather, causing us to lay in harbor on the Nova Scotia shore for 

 some days. Our passage was also further retarded by strong head- 

 winds, while at sea, so that we did not arrive home until the 19th day 

 of November. In the mean time, while we had been making our pas- 

 sage, mackerel had risen from $7.50 to $12 per barrel, and by the time 

 we were ready to sell we were able to get $13.50 for our best fish. My 

 own share amounted to $100, which was a sum rarely obtained from one 

 trip by any fisherman in 1861. 



1862. — Uncertainty of the mackerel fishery compared with 



that for cod. 



Some of the Georgians make shares of $30 to $50 per man. 



The mackerel fishery is quite uncertain, and if the fishermen make a 

 poor season's Avork at mackerel, then George's Bank is made to dis- 

 count, and from this source they draw the cash, in the shape of codfish 

 and halibut. 



George's Bank furnishes them with the ready cash, promptly paid, 

 and dollars would be scarce indeed among, them, were it not for this 

 source of revenue. — (Cape Aun Advertiser, March 7, 1862.) 



1862. — Southern mackerel fishery. — fitting away of the 



FLEET. 



Quite a number of vessels are now being fitted out to prosecute the 

 early mackerel fishery in southern waters. This branch of the fisheries 

 has been prosecuted for several years past with but indifferent success, 

 the vessels not making enough to pay for their outfit The vessels en- 

 gaged in this business do not follow the George's fishing, but spend a 

 month or six weeks in Southern waters, prior to going to the bay, in 

 order to help make out a good season's work. The mackerel are gen- 

 erally small and poor, and the prices realized are not very lucrative. — 

 (Cape Ann Advertiser, April 25, 1862.) 



1862. — Vessels and men engaged in the Gloucester mackerel 



fisheries. 



About 350 sail of vessels engaged in the fishery, from this port, aver- 

 aging twenty men to a vessel, making an aggregate of more than 4,000 

 men that are required to man the fleet. — (Cape Ann Advertiser, May 

 8, 1862.) 



