MAINE: DISTRICT OF PORTLAND AND FALMOUTH. 85 



THE BOAT FISHERIES. The boat fishermen of Portland, about one hundred and forty in 

 number, are almost wholly Americans. Few of them live in the city, the greater part being scat- 

 tered about on the islands in the vicinity and at Cape Elizabeth, both for cheapness of living and 

 for convenience in getting to and from the fishing grounds. They use lap-streak, keeled, and 

 center-board boats, 18 to 22 feet in length. These are provided with two movable masts, with 

 sprit sails, and have an average value of $50 to $75 each. The fishing begins late in March and 

 continues till November, when most of the boats are hauled up, though a few fish more or less all 

 winter. 



At first trawls are extensively used, the fishermen setting from 800 to 1,200 hooks each; but as 

 the season advances and bait becomes scarce hand-lines are substituted for them, as the dog fish are 

 usually so plenty at this season as to seriously interfere with trawl-fishing. " Conch" (Nati-ca clausa) 

 constitute the principal bait in summer, the fishermen gathering them on the flats at Jow water and 

 keeping them in live-cars till needed. The catch is composed largely of cod, pollock, hake, and mack- 

 erel. Some of the boat-fishermen are beginning to carry harpoons for sword-fish, and nearly all own 

 a " gang" of lobster-pots, which they fish with more or less regularly. The fish are sold to the fresh- 

 fish dealers, or to the hawkers, at prices depending largely upon the quantity in market. The sup- 

 ply is usually greater than the demand, and in order to be sure of a market each fisherman must 

 find some one who will agree to take his catch at a stated price; otherwise he does not care to ven- 

 ture out. On account of the uncertainty of finding a market much time is lost that might otherwise 

 be profitably employed. The curers on the islands usually buy all the fish that are offered, but 

 they require the fishermen to split them, and cannot afford to pay as much as the fresh-fish dealers 

 in the city. For this reason many do not care to sell to the curers, though if the time gained 

 through the certainty of a market be considered, they could doubtless make good wages in this 

 way. This condition of affairs occurs only in summer, for at other seasons the market readily con- 

 sumes all the fish that are offered. 



FISH-CUEING IN PORTLAND. The fish landed in Portland are, with few exceptions, cured by 

 parties making a specialty of this work. Laud in the heart of the city, where the fish-wharves 

 are located, is quite valuable, and the fish dealers do not have curing-stands of their own, as is 

 the case with those in smaller cities, but are dependent on the curers for "making" any fish that 

 their vessels may bring. Two firms, however, have utilized the roofs of their buildings as flake- 

 yards, and in this way cure several thousand quintals annually. The principal curing-stands are 

 on the islands of the outer harbor, where suitable buildings and flake-yards have been constructed. 

 On arriving from the banks the vessels proceed to these islands, the crews landing and washing 

 the fish, after which they wheel them to the flake-yard, when the curer takes charge of them and 

 prepares them for the market, taking one quintal in twelve for his services. If they cannot be 

 cured at once, the crew pitch them out of the vessel and carry them to the buildings, where they 

 are "kenched" until they are needed. In this case the curer "washes them out" before they are 

 placed on the flakes, charging six cents per quintal additional for this work. 



In some localities the flakes are provided with cloth covers, which are spread over the fish to 

 protect them from the heat of the sun, which is often so great at mid-day as to render them nearly 

 worthless. In other localities the fish are "bunched" early in the day before the sun becomes too 

 warm, and spread again late in the afternoon. In many places along the coast no attempt is 

 made to dry the fish in summer on account of the danger of burning them, and the catch is 

 "kenched "till fall. 



In Portland, however, the curers have a very simple way of overcoming the difficulty, and 



