CHAPTER X 



UNITED STATES FISH AND 

 FISHERMEN 



The States fishermen The " foreigners " The spring mackerel- 

 fishing The "purse-seine" Fishing by night How the net is 

 cleared Shore-weirs Line-fishing for mackerel The herring 

 The mullet A big catch The " red snapper " Other American 

 fish. 



THE life of the American mackerel is a busy but not 

 an enviable one, for it is passed in a futile effort to 

 find a resting-place "between the devil and the 

 deep sea " ; in other words, between the artfully designed 

 coast-traps known as "shore-weirs," and the attacks of 

 the sharks and blue-fish that lie in wait for him as soon 

 as he flees into deep water. It is just possible that he 

 might find a happy mean, if it were not for a third 

 danger that pursues him in his flight from the coast, and is 

 waiting to meet him on his return there to the fishing-fleet. 

 For, all the way down the Atlantic coast of the United 

 States, from Maine to Louisiana, are fishing stations, 

 some rivalling in importance our Lowestoft or Grimsby, 

 and catering for a greater population and a far wider 

 area. 



The States fishermen might be divided into two classes : 



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