234 GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW OF THE FISHERIES. 



THE GENERAL FISHERIES OF WELLFLEET. Wellfleet, the second fishing town in iniiM)rtanco 

 iii Barnstablc County, is situated about balf way between tbe "elbow" and extremity of Cape Cod. 

 The village stands upon high ground at tbe head of a, beautiful and commodious harbor, which 

 opens toward the south, and is protected on the east by a number of islands, on the most southerly 

 of which stands Billingsgate light. The wharves, which are three in number, are well built and 

 in a good state of preservation. 



The fisheries engaged in are:- 1. The offshore mackerel fishery. '1. The oyster fishery. 3. The 

 weir fishery. 4. The clam fishery. 5. The mackerel fishery with gill nets. 0. The alewife fishery. 

 The offshore cod fishery lias been engaged in at different times, but has been abandoned after a. 

 short trial on account of the poor facilities which Wellfieet offers, and the lateness of the return 

 of the fleet from the winter oyster fishery. 



In 1879, the fleet of Wellfleet fishing-vessels comprised thirty schooners, one of them a three- 

 masted vessel; the extremes of tonnage being, respectively, 37.12 and 151.G5 tons. The average 

 crew is fourteen men. In 1879 all of these vessels were engaged in mackerel catching from May 

 to November, and, with one exception, all used purse-seines. They followed the mackerel from 

 Cape Hatteras northward, fishing at the latter part of the season off Mount Desert, Maine. One 

 schooner, the smallest of the fleet, used hand-lines, and fished on Nantucket Shoals during that 

 year. From November to May the vessels are employed in carrying oysters from Virginia to 

 Boston market. Five sixths, or perhaps even a larger proportion, of the fleet are employed in 

 this manner in the winter. A few enter the merchant-service at the close of the mackerel fishery, 

 and many of those engaged in the oyster trade make two or three trips to Jamaica and other 

 West Indian ports during the winter. 



Five weirs are located within the limits of Wellfleet Township, but one of them is owned in 

 Eastham, and will be mentioned below under that towu. Of the four remaining weirs, three 

 are erected near each other, off Horse Island, at the southeastern part of the harbor, and the 

 fourth almost exactly on the boundary between Wellfleet and Eastham. They are all " flat " weirs, 

 constructed of poles and laths. 



From 100 to 150 gill-nets arc set in spring and in fall for mackerel. They are owned by ten or 

 fifteen men, the average number owned by any one man being ten. These nets are not allowed 

 to drift, but are anchored at one extremity. 



The Wellfleet Herring River has its source in a chain of lakes at the north of the village, and 

 opens into the harbor at its extreme northwestern section. This river, formerly the property of a 

 citizen, was given to the town on condition that it should be kept in good order. It is leased 

 annually to the two highest bidders. Fishing is carried on only on Mondays, Wednesdays, and 

 Fridays, according to a law made in 1773. 



The hard clam or quahaug fishery gives employment to five men during a large part of the 

 year. They do not spend their whole time, however, in this fishery. Most of the raking is done 

 on the west side of the bay, where the water is not more than 8 feet deep at ebb-tide. 



In 1879, 16,947 barrels of mackerel were inspected in Wellfleet. During the same year about 

 500,000 pounds of fish were sent to market from the weirs. The Herring River produces about 

 25,000 fish annually. About 1,800 bushels of quahaugs have been taken annually for a number of 

 years. The mackerel are marketed in Philadelphia, New York, and Boston. 



Most of the salt consumed in the fisheries at Wellfleet is from Cadiz and Trapani, but a small 

 amount comes from Syracuse and Liverpool. 



The cost of the forty-five vessels owned in Wellfleet in 1879 was estimated at $275,000. A 



