30 



GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW OF THE FISHERIES. 



Detailed statement of the quantities and rallies of tlie product Coutiuued. 



13. GOULDSBORO' AND ITS FISHERIES. 



GOULDSBORO'. The town of Gouldsboro' occupies a rocky peninsula lying between Gouldsboro' 

 Bay and Frenchman's Bay. It includes several small settlements, the chief of which are Pros 

 pect Harbor, Winter Harbor, and West Gouldsboro'. The town has a population of 1,700. Many 

 of the inhabitants devote their attention to farming, while others " follow the sea," being engaged 

 in the coasting or foreign trade. 



Fifty years ago the people of Gouldsboro' were largely interested in the fisheries, and each 

 season a fleet of vessels was fitted for the cod and hake fisheries of the Bay of Fundy and French- 

 man's Bay. Later a good many boat fishermen were employed in the Frenchman's Bay hake 

 fisheries ; while others devoted their attention to the menhaden fisheries, which were, at one time, 

 very important in this locality. 



SHORE WHALING. According to Capt. George A. Clark and Captain Bickford, whaling was 

 extensively carried on from Prospect Harbor for many years. The fishing began about 1810, when 

 Stephen Clark and Mr. L. Hiller, of Rochester, Mass., came to the region, and built try- works on 

 the shore, having their lookout station on the top of an adjoining hill. The whales usually fol- 

 lowed the menhaden to the shore, arriving about the 1st of June, and remaining till September. 

 When one was seen the men, armed with harpoons and lances, would immediately launch their 

 boats and start in pursuit. If they succeeded in killing the whale, it was towed to the flats of the 

 harbor at high-water, where it was secured and left to be cut up at low tide. Ten years later they 

 began using small vessels in the fishery, and by this means were enabled to go farther from land. 

 The fishery was at its height between 1835 and 1840, when an average of six or seven whales were 

 taken yearly. The largest number taken in any one season was ten. The average yield of oil was 

 25 to 30 barrels for each whale. The business was discontinued about I860, since which date but 

 one or two whales have beeu taken. 



