100 GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW OF THE FISHERIES. 



proportion of cusk and pollock being rather small. Most of the catch is marketed at Portland. 

 The value of the fish taken in 1879, including the mackerel and herring, was about $5,000. 



Clams are found in considerable numbers. on both sides of the river for a mile and a half from 

 its mouth. About 500 bushels are dug during the season, some of which are used for bait by the 

 fishermen, and others are distributed by peddlers through the surrounding country. Lobsters are 

 caught near the mouth of the river, and four hundred pots are set for them during the spring and 

 summer, the fishing being discontinued during the winter. The catch in 1879 amounted to thirty- 

 eight thousand in number, valued at $2,280. 



CAPE PORPOISE. Three miles east of Kennebunkport is the little settlement of Cape Porpoise, 

 which belongs to the town of Kennebuukport. The ground in the neighborhood is exceedingly 

 rocky, and the soil is quite poor. The inhabitants being thus debarred from the pursuit of agri- 

 culture must turn their attention to other employments, and according to Mr. S. H. Pinkham, who 

 has furnished us with much valuable information, nearly all of the men and boys are engaged in 

 fishing. The harbor, although difficult of entrance, is otherwise well adapted for the small vessels 

 and boats which are used in the fisheries of the region. A dozen schooners, varying from 8 to 32 

 tons each, are registered at the custom-house, and an equal number of smaller craft, measuring 

 from 3 to 5 tons, with twenty-eight dories, are owned in the village. Including the vessel-fishermen, 

 there are at the Cape one hundred and seventeen men and boys who depend chiefly on the 

 fisheries for a livelihood. The fishing is confined largely to trawling for ground-fish in Wells 

 Bay and along the shore from Boon Island to Cape Elizabeth, only one vessel going as far as 

 Banquereau for codfish. Herring are usually plenty, in September or October, just outside the 

 harbor, where they are taken in considerable numbers. The fishermen also engage largely in the 

 herring fisheries of Wood Island. Little attention is given to the capture of mackerel, though a 

 few are taken with nets in the fall. About one-fifth of the ground-fish taken by the fleet are cod, 

 the remainder being principally hake and haddock. 



During the winter months, when few fish are taken, some of the men turn their attention to 

 the capture of lobsters, while others resort to the harbor flats for clams. About 2,000 bushels of 

 the latter are dug annually for bait and food. From 1,200 to 1,400 lobster-pots are fished within 

 4 miles of the harbor at this season, the usual method being to set them on trawls containing 50 

 or GO each. In the spring, when the fishery is at its height, 2,000 pots are often used. An 

 average catch for a season is, at present, about thirty-five thousand lobsters in number, though 

 formerly it is said to have been much larger. 



'50. MR. WILCOX'S DESCRIPTION OF THE FISHERIES BETWEEN WELLS AND 



KITTERY. 



WELLS. Thirty six miles southwest from Portland, in Wells Bay, are situated the fishing 

 stations of Wells Beach, Perkins Cove, and Ogunquit Harbor, all included in the town of Wells. 

 The beach is G miles long, the eastern half being sandy while the western part is broken and 

 rocky. The harbor being exposed and shallow, few vessels are owned here, and most of the 

 fishing, according to Mr. S. S. Perkins, to whom we are indebted for the facts given below, is 

 carried on from small sail-boats of from 13 to 20 foot keel. These are provided with movable 

 masts; they carry from one to two men each. Twenty-five of the fishermen live at Wells 

 Beach, the most northerly of the stations mentioned, twenty others reside at Ogunqnit, on the 

 southwest, while fifty-five belong to Perkins Cove, which is situated midway between the other 

 two. The total fleet of the town is seventy-five boats, manned by one hundred fishermen. 



