686 GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW OF THE FISHERIES. 



me word how much we are concerned in them, and what prospect of a voyage. When they have doue, I desire you 

 would take rare to secure the boats and utensils belonging to them." 



And in the next year, under date of September 22, Mr. Higginson wrote again about whale-boats and crews at 

 Ipswich, and remarked : " We should be in readiness for the noble sport." 



In 1715 a committee of the proprietors met at Jeffrey's Neck and confirmed to the owners of thirteen fishing boats 

 the use of the room occupied by these boats. 



THE FISHERIES FROM 1723 TO 1758. In 1723 flats were granted " to set up a house ou to accommodate the fishery." 

 The town voted in 1730 that "owners of fishing vessels shall give an account of the crews, to the clerk, on penalty of 

 20. for every person's name omitted." 



In 1747 " a passage had been made through two inill-dams for alcwives." 



Douglass ' states that Ipswich had six fishing schooners in 1748, and Felt records the same number in 1758. 



THE CLAM INDUSTRY IN 1763 AND 1771. In 1763 " The commoners forbid auy more clams to be dug than are neces- 

 sary for the use of the people of the town and of fishing vessels. They allow one barrel for each of a crew to the 

 banks, and in proportion for boats in the bay." 



A regulation was passed in 1771, that " owners of vessels are to pay 6<f. a barrel. The poor may dig and sell clams 

 out of town for 2. a barrel." 



TREATY RIGHTS IN 1782. Apparently for the averting of some grievance suffered by the people of this town the 

 following vote was passed January 1, 1782 : " The town vote that their Representatives endeavor to have an applica- 

 tion made to Congress, so that they instruct their Commissioners for peace, to have the right of the United States to 

 the fishery, an indispensable article of the treaty." 



"LETTING OUT" THE CLAM FLATS. With reference the "letting out" of the clam flats and sand banks, the fol- 

 lowing vote was passed in 1789 : "The town vote to have the clam flats, as well as sand banks which had been given 

 them by the commoners, let out, the clams at 1. a barrel." 



At that time 1,000 barrels were annually dug at Ipswich, which were sold in Boston and other places for bait, from 

 $5 to $6 per barrel. 



IPSWICH FISHERIES FROM 1794 TO 1825. The fishing fleet of Ipswich in 1794 contained fifty-three fishing boats, 

 the whole tonnage of which was 4,186. 



The necessity for certain conditions for the prosecution of the river fisheries was felt in 1804, as may be learned 

 from another record, which reads as follows : 



" 1804. The fishery of shad and alewives in Mile River is to be regulated." 



The following regulation was enforced in 1825 : 



"The privilege of catching shad and alewives in Ipswich River is let. This privilege is $1 a barrel." 



At that date there were 350 barrels of alewives caught annually, on an average. These were disposed of for the 

 West India market. 



GLOUCESTER. 2 



THE SETTLEMENT OF CAPE ANN. The history of Gloucester as a fishing station dates back to its earliest settle- 

 ment by the English. The records of the colonies of Massachusetts Bay and of Plymouth make frequent mention of 

 the importance of the fisheries of this region. 



Cape Ann received its pre'ent name about 1615. It had been called Tragabizanda by Captain Smith, who, in 

 1614, visited its shores. Some French navigators, under Samuel de Chainplaiu, who landed on the cape in 1605, called 

 it Cap aux Isles. There are records of voyages to New England and references to this region prior to the visit of 

 Ch.amplain, as the celebrated voyage of Gosnold in 1602. It does not appear that auy settlement was made at the cape 

 until 1(23, when it became the first home of the Massachusetts Colony, which, a year afterwards, removed to the present 

 site of Salem. 



Hubbard, the early historian of the colonies, gives us the following account of the first settlement of Cape Ann 

 and its relation to some of the other settlements in Massachusetts Bay : 



" Several mariners and persons skilled in navigation (whether employed by others in a way of fishing and trading 

 or to satisfy their own humors in making further and more exact discoveries of the country is not material) had some 

 years before looked down into the Massachusetts Bay. The inhabitants of New Plymouth had heard the fame thereof, 

 and in the first year [1621] ; fter their arrival there took an occasion to visit it, gaining some acquaintance with the 

 natives of the place, in order to future traffic with them, for which purpose something like an habitation was set up 

 at Nantasket, a place judged the most commodious for such an end. There Mr. Roger Conant, with some few others, 

 after Mr. Lyford and Mr. Oldharu were (for some offense, real or supposed) discharged from having anything more to 

 do at Plymouth [1624], found a place of retirement and reception for themselves and families, for the space of a year 

 and some few months, till a door was opened for them at Cape Anne, a place on the other side of the bay (more con- 



1 History of North America. London : 1750, p. 537. 



2 The following works contain extended references to the fisheries of Gloucester : 



History of the Town of Gloucester, Cape Aun, including the town of Boekport. By John J. Babson. Gloucester : Published. by Proc- 

 tor Brothers. 1860. 8ro. pp. i-xii, 1-610. 



The Fishermen's Memorial and Record Book. By George H. Proctor. Gloucester: Proctor Brothers, Publishers, Cape Ann Advertiser 

 Office. 1873. 8vo. pp. i-iv, 1-172. 



The Fisheries of Gloucester, from the first catch by the English iu 1623 to the centennial year 1876. Gloucester: Proctor Brothers, Pub- 

 lishers, Cape Ann Advertiser Office. [1876.] 8vo. pp. 1-88. 



The Fishermen's Own Book. Gloucester: Proctor Brothers, Publishers, Cape Ann Advertiser Office. [1882.1 8vo. pp. 1-274. 



The files of the Gloucester Telegraph and Cape Ann Advertiser contain many fishery items. 



