No. 4.] THE HARVEST OF THE SEA. 133 



haden fish upon the high seas within three miles of the Atlantic 

 coast . . . to be manufactured into oil or into fish guano or other 

 fertilizer material ; and that any person convicted of such a crime 

 shall be liable to a penalty of one thousand dollars, of which one- 

 fourth shall go to the informer." 



Can we believe, with all the history of the fishing busi- 

 ness before us, and knowing that nets and seines were 

 used in ancient times and are still used in all civilized coun- 

 tries, that such a bill would be introduced in our National 

 Legislature? I am glad to say, however, that it was de- 

 feated. Yet, strange to say, Maine, New York and New 

 Jersey had previously or have since enacted a law similar 

 to that proposed in Congress ; while Massachusetts in 1886 

 prohibited by statute the taking of any kind of fish by drag- 

 net, purse-seine, etc., in Buzzard's Bay. 



You will naturally ask why Massachusetts restricts her 

 legislation to Buzzard's Bay. It is claimed that Buzzard's 

 Bay is the home of the blue-fish ; but I am informed that 

 this is incorrect, — they may come there and they may not. 

 But this bay is surrounded by summer residents, many of 

 whom go there for the sport of catching the gamy blue-fish. 



It happens that the seiners of the menhaden who have the 

 new and improved methods are mostly citizens of Rhode 

 Island, Connecticut and New York, and they formerly went 

 there with their improved appliances, and scooped up the 

 menhaden in enormous quantities, leaving, however, the 

 food fish alone, often not getting enough in their nets to 

 supply their crews with fish. 



The line fishermen, prompted by the sportsmen and the 

 summer residents, feeling that these foreigners were robbing 

 the blue-fish of their food, and perhaps driving them away, 

 came to our Legislature and secured the passage of the Act 

 of 1886, in order, as they claimed, to protect the food-fish 

 industry, but in reality to protect their own sport. They 

 were successful because it happened that both the mackerel 

 and the menhaden catch had fallen off very materially 

 from that of 1884 ; and they used the argument that these 

 foreigners, with their improved appliances, had scooped up 

 all the fish in the sea, or else had driven them to other 

 waters ; whereas the fact was, as it appears now, that the 



