164 GEOGRAPHICAL EEVIEW OF THE FISHERIES. 







good catch. All the available boats in Gloucester Harbor were made use of to gather in the harvest 

 that lay at the fishermen's door. Xets were set at night and in the early morning they were found 

 loaded down with fish, being, in many cases, sunk by the weight of the fish, and many nets were 

 lost in this way. Fishermen who were not provided with nets visited the spot and from the frag- 

 ments got good boat loads. The nets used were the ordinary gill-nets of 2^ and 2f inch mesh, 

 25 fathoms long, anchored at each end. They were sunk about 2 fathoms below the surface of the 

 water. The principal fishing ground was in the vicinity of Norman's Woe, on the western side of 

 the harbor, and extending nearly a mile off from the rocky shore. The nets were set for about 

 three-quarters of a mile in a southeast direction from the shore, and then in a northeast and south- 

 west direction for a half mile. Within this small compass upwards of 20 miles of gill-nets were 

 set during the two principal days of the fishery. On Friday, October 3d, the school of herring 

 had disappeared from Norman's Woe, having moved westward toward Marblehead, where consid- 

 erable numbers were taken, and within a few days they had left the coast. There were landed in 

 Gloucester during that season, about 10,000 barrels of herring, for which the fishermen were paid 

 from 75 cents to $1.50 per barrel, or an average of $1 a barrel. 



THE SHORE VESSEL FISHERIES. During the winter of 1878-'79 the United States Fish Com- 

 mission made some successful experiments off Gloucester Harbor with gill-nets for the capture of 

 cod. The nets were from 8 to 10 inch mesh and were found eminently adapted for the winter 

 shore cod fishery. The fishermen were at first not disposed to provide themselves with these nets, 

 but they were afterwards generally used by the Gloucester fleet fishing in Ipswich Bay, and very 

 successful seasons have resulted. 



A shore fishery for cod is quite extensively carried on during the winter months in Ipswich 

 Bay, in vessels of from 20 to 40 tons burthen. During some winters large schools of very fine cod 

 visit this bay, especially on the northern side toward Newburyport and Portsmouth, and a large 

 part of the catch is marketed at those ports. The vessels nre fitted either with trawls or gill-nets. 

 The principal trawl bait used is frozen herring. Most of the catch is sold fresh, though when more 

 can be realized by drying the fish they are sold to the splitters. A fleet of some sixty sail of 

 Gloucester vessels was engaged in this fishery in the winter of 1S79-'80. 



After the close of the winter fishing some of these vessels cruise further to the eastward, fish- 

 ing on Cashe's Banks, off Matinicus, and other eastern grounds, capturing all varieties of ground 

 fish. A part of the fleet fish on Middle Bank for haddock, or cruise off the south, of Cape Cod, 

 and off Block Island. In the summer season those vessels that are large enough engage in seining 

 mackerel, while the rest cruise on the halving grounds off the eastern coast. In the early fall pol- 

 lock become abundant in Boston Bay off Gloucester, and are taken in large quantities. 



THE FISHERY WITH FLOATING TRAPS. Until the year 1874 no attempt had been made in the 

 vicinity of Gloucester to capture fish by the use of traps, pounds, or weirs. In that year Mr. 

 Henry Webb, of Rockport, set a floating trap at Milk Island, on the outside of Cape Ann. The 

 venture proved profitable, so that each year since a trap has been set at that island. This con- 

 tinued to be the only trap in the vicinity until 1879, when four more were set at various points, 

 and a crude stake-weir was built in Gloucester Harbor. The weir and most of the traps met with 

 poor success, the total value of the catch of all the traps being only $3,550. The number of men 

 employed from June to September was twelve, and the value of the traps was about $1,000. 



In the season of 1830 fourteen traps were set along the shores of Cape Ann from Manchester 

 to Annisquarn, employing forty-three men. The value of the traps and boats used in connection 

 with them was $G,500, and the value of the products was 818,000. 



The floating trap in use along the shore is square or rectangular in shape, and is made entirely 



