MASSACHUSETTS: BARNSTABLE DISTRICT. 227 



In the following account of the present fisheries of Provincetown we shall employ almost 

 exclusively the material furnished by Capt. N. E. Atwood, a retired fisherman of the town, well 

 known for his extended and accurate information on the fisheries, also for his influence on the fishery 

 legislation of the State and his scientific observations upon American fishes and other marine 

 animals. 



Nearly every branch of the fisheries peculiar to the northern waters is now or has recently 

 been carried on by the fishermen of Proviucetown. Those fisheries which are of sufficient import- 

 ance to claim attention in this connection are as follows: 1. The offshore cod fishery; 2. The 

 'longshore and winter cod fishery; 3. The offshore mackerel fishery; 4. The inshore mackerel 

 fishery with gill-nets; 5. The bluefish fishery with gill-nets; G. The hake fisher.v ; 7. The lobster 

 fishery ; 8. The whale fishery. 



THE FISHERY FOE COD. Supreme in importance is the offshore cod fishery, which has 

 always been carried on at Proviucetown with as much zeal as has the mackerel fishery at Well- 

 fleet. Sixty-three vessels engaged in this cod fishery in 1878, each making but one voyage 

 during the season. About four-fifths of the vessels visited the Grand Bank. The majority sailed 

 in the month of May and returned in September or October. Although several vessels did not get 

 full fares of fish, the amount of cod brought in slightly exceeded 75,000 quintals, and of oil a thou- 

 sand barrels. Four men lost their lives in this fishery during the year. In 1879, with about fifty 

 vessels, the catch amounted to a little less than 08,000 quintals of cod. 



Besides the above vessels engaged in the Bank and Gulf of Saint Lawrence cod fishery, a few 

 vessels fish along the coast for cod, selling the fish fresh in Boston, when it is found best to do so; 

 at other times salting them on board and selling them after arriving in some port, either Province- 

 town, Boston, or Gloucester, as most convenient. The fishermen sell their fish as soon as they can 

 after being salted, as the sooner they sell the more the fish will weigh. They sell them to parties 

 who dry them for market, so that it is not possible to know the number of quintals they get during 

 the season. Besides cod, they catch halibut, haddock, hake, &c. Their fishing is of a varied 

 character, as they sometimes take their fish to market fresh, and sometimes salt them. 



Besides the eleven vessels engaged in the New England coast cod fishery, some thirteen small 

 vessels, or boats of less than 20 tons burden, are a part of the time engaged in miscellaneous 

 fisheries with hook, line, and nets for anything they can get, when fish come into the bay. A 

 great part of the time some of them do nothing in the way of fishing, and altogether they make 

 but a small profit. 



Cod come into Provincetowu Bay and along the coast late in autumn, and remain through the 

 winter and early spring, at which times the fishermen engage in catching them. It is the only 

 fishery carried on in winter, and a considerable number of men are engaged in it. The fishing is 

 carried on from the shore in dories, commencing in December, usually from the middle until the 

 last of that month. TLe fishery has been carried on at Proviucetown many years. The mode of 

 fishing from the beginning was altogether with hand-lines. The trawl-line was not in use here 

 until the winter of 1858, when it was first introduced. Since that time until now the trawl-line 

 fishing has been in general use for cod and haddock. 



In 1880 the fishermen commenced their winter cod-fishing about the middle of December, but 

 few were taken. The fishery proved a failure. The fish were sold fresh and sent to Boston, New 

 York, and other markets. About one hundred and forty fishermen were employed. The whole 

 catch during the winter amounted to 490,000 pounds, which, with about 1,000 gallons of oil, was 

 valued at nearly $12,000. 



THE MACKEREL FISHERY. In 1870 and 1871 no mackerel vessels from Proviucetown were 



