MAINE: MACHIAS DISTRICT. 23 



REVIEW OF a HE FISHERIES BY TOWNS. If we except Jouesport, there are 110 important fish- 

 ing settlements in the district, though the residents of several villages are more or less interested 

 in the capture of the different species. Below may be found a brief description of the fishing 

 iuteres's of the different towns. 



9. CUTLER TO JONESBORO', INCLUSIVE. 



CULLER. The town of Cutler lies to the eastward of Machias Bay, with the open ocean on the 

 south. Its population, numbering less than 1,000, is scattered along the shore, the interior being 

 nearly uninhabited. The people are now engaged almost wholly in farming, though formerly con- 

 siderable fishing was done. Fifteen years ago more than a dozen brush weirs were fished in Little 

 Machias Bay and Little River by the residents of the town ; but at present the fishing interests in 

 this line are confined to one weir. Two vessels of 18.42 and 42.07 tons, respectively, furnishing 

 employment to fifteen men, are fished from the harbor; but one of these is chartered from Jones 

 port. About thirty men engage in Jobstering and line fishing from boats during a part of the 

 summer. There are eight smoke-houses, but only two of them are in repair, and the total quantity 

 of herring smoked yearly does not exceed 2,000 boxes. The vessel-catch amounted to 850 quintals 

 in 1871), and to 600 quintals in 1880. The catch of herring in the weirs has been constantly decreas- 

 ing until during the present season it will not exceed 15 hogsheads. According to Mr. S. B. French, 

 Cutler was for a short time interested in the Magdalen herring fisheries, sending her first vessel in 

 I860, and two or three each season until 1864. 



MACHIASPOET. Machiasport is a town of 1,500 inhabitants, lying to the south of Machias. 

 It is divided by the Machias River, and has a village of 300 inhabitants at the head of steamboat 

 navigation. The region is one largely interested in the lumber trade, and it has a fleet of vessels 

 engaged in coasting. The southern portion of the town is a peninsula, with Machias Bay on the east 

 and Little Kennebec River on the west. The shores are indented by numerous harbors and coves, 

 and from these twenty-three men, with 17 boats, are engaged in lobstering from April to August, 

 selling their catch to the cannery on Little Kennebec River. There are no professional boat-fisher- 

 men, though a number catch a few cod, hake, and haddock each season for home use and for sale 

 in the neighborhood. The smoked herring business-amounts to less than 300 boxes yearly. 



Two fishing- vessels with a total of 54.37 tons are owned in the town. These are engaged in 

 the Bay of Fundy and La Have fisheries, with trawl and nfft, during the summer months, and in 

 the herring fisheries in winter. They carry a total of fourteen men, and in 1879 lauded GOO quin- 

 tals of dry fish. The present season, 1880, the catch will be about 825 quintals. 



EAST MACHIAS. East Machias, with its extensive lumber mills and ship-yards, is a town of 

 nearly 2,000 inhabitants, lying to the north of Machiasport. No fishing vessels and but three or 

 four fishing boats are owned in the town. The largest of these makes Grand Manan her head- 

 quarters during the summer season while fishing for cod and pollock, and in the fall she is employed 

 in the herring fishery in the same locality. Her total catch for 1879 was about 75 quintals of dried 

 fi.sh, and 50,000 herring. The other boats go only occasionally to the fishing grounds near Cross 

 Island in summer, catching a few quintals of cod and hake for home use. The town is supplied 

 with fresh fish by peddlers from Jonesboro and other places. 



MACHIAS. Machias is a small town of about 2,200 inhabitants, lying to the northwest of 

 Machiasport on the Machias River. It has a village of 1,500 inhabitants at the head of naviga- 

 tion. Many of the residents arc engaged in the coasting trade, but the majority are interested in 

 or find employment at the extensive saw-mills of the village. It is the county seat of Washington 



