MASSACHUSETTS: BAENSTABLE DISTRICT. 245 



times when mackerel were scarce and there were few vessels that went cod-fishing, there were 

 usually two in this business. They do not appear to have gone to the Grand Bank, but chiefly to 

 Quereau and Cape Sables (as the fishermen call it). Captain Matthews is of the opinion that the 

 mackerel fishery was carried on there with considerable energy from 1838 to 1840. Yarmouth 

 does not appear to have been devoted to any considerable extent to the fishery beyond supplying 

 capital. From 1854 to 1SCO, according to Captain Crocker, most of the fishermen and skippers 

 came from Orleans and Harwich, and it was found difficult to hire men to ship in the Yarmouth 

 vessels because of the hard work in getting vessels into the harbor and getting the fish ashore. 

 The fishery was finally given up because only shallow vessels could get into the harbor, and these 

 were not suitable to be used to advantage in the winter for nmckereling or other purposes. In 

 1879 twenty or thirty Yarmouth men were engaged in fishing, shipping from Harwich, Province- 

 town, and other ports. One fishing skipper belongs here. 



Hitherto in Yarmouth as in Barustable, three or four men have engaged in cod fishing in 

 spring on the bar at the mouth of Barnstable harbor, and have helped to make up the amount of 

 20,000 pounds of fish usually taken on that bar. This year, however, the fishery was a failure. 



Capt. Benjamin Lovell, half owner of the weir at Sandy Xeck (see Barnstable), has a sweep- 

 seine, worth perhaps $100, which he uses for the capture of various kinds of fish. He also sets 

 twelve or fifteen lobster pots. This fishery has been carried on for many years, but from 187G until 

 the present year it scarcely supplied local demand. This year, however, Captain Lovell has caught 

 at least 2,500 lobsters. 



The Yarmouth Fish Company, Daniel B. Crocker, treasurer, has a capital of $2,500, and there 

 are 249 shares and 54 owners. They own a weir, which was put down in 1859. In 1878 about 

 150 barrels of fish were shipped ; in 1879, about 100 barrels, and in 1880 the same. There is no 

 harbor except in a shoal creek flowing through the marshes between the village and the bay. 

 Here it is said that 12 or 15 vessels were formerly laid up in winter, but it seems almost incred- 

 ible that they could have been brought up to the wharves. The wharves and the fish stores are 

 dilapidated and essentially useless. 



South Yarmouth comprises 3 small villages South Yarmouth proper, Georgetown, and lower 

 village. South Yarmouth itself, situate 1 mile from the mouth of Bass River, is the largest 

 place, but contains few fishermen, and is not dependent on the fishing. Georgetown is a small 

 hamlet of about 10 fishermen's houses, and is dependent upon the fresh fishery. It is about 

 1 mile above South Yarmouth, on Bass River; the lower village is but a short distance below 

 South Yarmouth, and does not depend on the fishery. In all these villages together there are 

 probably forty men who make a living during nine months of the year by fishing with hook and 

 line in small cat-rig boats, off the mouth of Bass River. Twenty men, including about ten of the 

 forty men mentioned above, make a partial living by eel fishing. It is estimated that they average 

 1,000 pounds of eels apiece annually, which would make an aggregate of 20,000 pounds. Some 

 thirty men are employed in line fishing off the mouth of Bass River. They use small cat-rigged 

 boats, worth from $100 to $300. 



In spring codfish are caught, and later in the season bluefish, scup, and flatfish. In 1879 

 about 00,000 pounds of bluefish and 30,000 or 40,000 of scup and flatfish were taken by the fisher- 

 men. The larger proportion are shipped by two firms having a capital of about $3,000. Four 

 sweep-seines are owned in South Yarmouth, and are used for the capture of herring off the mouth 

 of Bass River. A number of gill-nets are used annually by five men for the same purpose. 



The privilege of the alewife fishery in Bass River is held jointly by the towns of Dennis and 

 Yarmouth. The fishery is leased annually to private individuals for about $700. The alewives 



