276 



GEOGRAPHICAL EEVJEW OF THE FISHERIES. 



Detailed statement of tlie quantities and values of tlie products Continued. 



a Includes 53, C36 pounds taken in the Connecticut Iliver at llolyoke, Mass. 



89. THE GENERAL FISHERIES OF FALL RIVER AND NEIGHBORING TOWNS. 



FALL RIVER AND VICINITY. Fall River is oil Mount Hope Bay, aii arm of Narragaiisett Bay, 

 at the mouth of Tauntoii River, 45 miles from Boston. Its population in 1870 was 26,766; iu 1880, 

 48,961. It is extensively engaged in the manufacture of cotton goods, and its factories contain 

 more spindles than those of any other city in the United States. Railroads furnish communica- 

 tion with Boston, Providence, New Bedford, and other points, while daily lines of steamers run 

 to Newport, Providence, and New York. The harbor is large and easy of access, and is deep 

 enough for the largest vessels. The foreign and coastwise trade of Fall River is important. In 

 1873 thirty-seven vessels, aggregating 554 tons, were employed in the cod and mackerel fisheries, 

 but in 1879 there were none. In former years whaling vessels were sometimes fitted here, but that 

 fishery was abandoned many years ago. From 1840 to 1847 the whaling fleet numbered seven 

 vessels, and from 1848 to 1860 two or more vessels were annually sent out; the last one in 1861. 



The only fishery now carried on from here is for the capture of menhaden. In this business 

 there are employed twenty-two vessels, including one steamer, aggregating 410.04 tons, and valued 

 with outfits at $36,720. The catch of these vessels in 1879 was 12,800,000 pounds of menhaden, 

 worth $19,200 in the fresh condition, and was sold to the oil and guano factories in this vicinity. 



The shad and alewife fisheries of the Tauuton River are carried on by 108 men, who use 29 

 boats, 15 seines, and 1 weir, worth, with their fixtures, about $7,500. The catch in 1879 was 

 1,718,000 alewives, equal to about 4,000 barrels, and 6,615 shad weighing 21,498 pounds. The 

 value of these products was $12,090. A portion of the alewives were sold fresh, the rest pickled 

 or smoked. The shad were sold fresh in Boston and other markets. 



In Cole's River, in the town of Swansea, 4 miles west of Fall River, at the northern end of 

 Mount Hope Bay, there is a small fishing station. The northern and northwestern ends of Mount 



