248 GEOGRAPHICAL KB VIEW OF TUB FISHERIES. 



Blueflsli were first caught by the Hyamiis fishermen about forty-five years ago. Twenty years 

 ago they were still plenty, but the difficulty then was that the markets were not good. The fish 

 were commonly sold to smacks for I cent per pound. It was customary at that time to salt the 

 bluefish. 



The villages of Osterville, Marstou's Mills, and Cotuit are situated in the southwestern part 

 of Barnstable Township. Marston's Mills is located at the head, Osterville on the eastern side, 

 and Cotuit on the western side, of a deep inlet or bay, the waters of which find their way about 

 three miles inland. The most important fishery carried on at this point is the oyster fishery. In 

 Cotuit and the neighboring villages there are twelve firms which have capital invested in this 

 fishery. They employ forty or fifty men. About 2,000 bushels of oysters are annually brought 

 from sereral places in Buzzard's Bay, Long Island Sound, and on the Jersey coast, and Norwalk, 

 Conn., and planted here. The available ground is now almost entirely taken up. The removal of 

 the oysters for market begins about the middle of September, but the height of the season is from 

 the middle of October to the first of April. About $3,000 are now invested in " seed," that is, in 

 oysters which are to remain undisturbed for one or two years, that. they may grow and fatten. 

 The apparatus owned by the twelve companies, including scows, rakes, &c., is worth about $1,200. 



In addition to the men engaged in the oyster fishery, there are from twenty to twenty-five 

 men at Cotuit who earn a living in other branches. They own and employ about fifteen cat-rigged 

 boats. In winter they occasionally fish for cod on the Horse Siioe shoal, which is 15 or 18 

 miles distant from Cotuit. Only 30 or 40 quintals are usually obtained during the season. In 

 April hand-line fishing for tautog, scup, bass, and bluefish is begun, and is continued until fall. 

 Twenty-five gill-nets are set annually, from May to August inclusive. Six boats are employed 

 in this fishery. Four drag-seines are also owned in Cotuit, and are used for the capture of 

 bluefish. In 1877 twenty-five lobster pots were in use. The total catch in 1877 was as follows : 

 Cod, 10,000 pounds ; haddock, 2,000 pounds ; bluefish, 30,000 pounds ; scup, 2,575 pounds ; sea 

 bass, 2,000 pounds; tautog, 1,600 pounds; striped bass, 1,500 pounds; flounders, G,000 pounds; 

 eels, 1,000 pounds ; menhaden, 1,'^00 barrels ; and 500 lobsters in number. 



Both soft clams (Mya arenaria) and quahaugs are to be found in the harbor, but no considerable 

 fishery for them is carried on. 



In 1878 the fishing was very poor. The fishermen did not average $50 during the whole 

 season. Purse-seines were formerly used at Cotuit for the capture of menhaden. 



Centreville is a small village situated about four miles west of Hyaunis. The fisheries are 

 carried on by ten men. Each man owns three gill-nets, which are used for the capture of blue- 

 fish. Two sweep-seines arc also in use here. A menhaden purse-seine, used in spring to secure 

 fish to be sold for bait, is owned here. A weir, worth about $500, was erected in March, 1879. 

 About twenty years ago an artificial alewife brook was cut in a marsh near the village, into the 

 narrow drains of which the fish naturally came. A company was formed under the name of the 

 Nine Mile Fishing Company. In 1877 the brook paid GO per cent, on the original capital of $1,000. 

 In 1878, 320 barrels of alewives were taken out, a larger amount than usual. The fishing is car- 

 ried on for two months, usually from the 1st of April to the 1st of June. The alewives are salted 

 or smoked and consumed in the village, or sold in Hyannis, or sold fresh to the fishermen fishing 

 on Nantuckct Shoals. 



78. THE FISHERIES OF SANDWICH AND FALMOUTH. 



SANDWICH. The village of Sandwich, although situated very near the water, is not and has 

 never been, to any considerable extent, dependent upon the fisheries. There are three men who 



