160 HISTORY AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. 



Bay of Saint Lawrence and fished in from 15 to 30 fathoms around Bank Bradley and the Magdalen 

 Islands, bringing home about 900 quintals of very large fish that brought a much higher price than 

 large fish taken with hand-lines. The impression seemed to be at that time that trawl-fish were 

 better than those caught in the old way. She kept on in the business and in 1860 was joined by 

 the schooner Island Queen, Captain Orchard, belonging to Cameron and Orne, of Southport. 



" This method was new to the owners at the time and they were afraid to risk the whole chance 

 of a trip, so they took a crew of Captain Cook and eight men, gave them material for two trawls, 

 each 1,000 fathoms long, with No. 9 hooks, one fathom apart, and hand-lines for fishing in the 

 usual way. They used manila six-thread line, about the size of the present buoy-line, for the 

 ground line, and had buoys at intervals of 100 fathoms, so that if the line parted they might get 

 it again. The boats taken were Hampton boats, 15 to 18 feet long, two men going in each. 



"They were also provided with a bait-mill to chop bait for tolling the mackerel, which were 

 taken with hooks, to be used for bait, and with a string of eight herring nets, 40 yards each, to 

 catch herring for the same purpose. They sailed about June 15, after she had made a trip to the 

 Banks, for the Bay of Saint Lawrence, and began fishing in the vicinity of the Magdalens. She 

 soon found the fish so plenty that the hand-line fishermen on board gave up their fishing and spent 

 their time dressing the fish taken on the trawls and catching mackerel and herring for bait. The 

 closer they came to shore, especially in the vicinity of Dead Man's Island, the better, and fre- 

 quently one end of the trawl came nearly to the land. The average depth was about 5 to 10 

 fathoms. 



" The fish taken were very large and averaged only ten to tfie quintal when dried. They saved 

 nearly 30 quintals of small cod that were taken from the mouths of the large ones, i. e., the small 

 ones would swallow the bait and get caught when a large one would bite at the small one and thus 

 the large and small would come up on the same hook. The vessel returned after an absence of 

 two and a half months, landing 750 quintals of large fish, averaging ten to the quintal, while other 

 vessels fishing in the same locality required seventy to eighty fish to the quintal. 



"After curing, the fish were sold to Moses B. Nickerson, of Portland, at $4 per quintal, while 

 other large fish were bringing only $3.25. They were resold to Crowell, of New York. The success 

 of these vessels had a tendency to bring trawling into general use, and by 1862 most of the vessels 

 of the section used them and continued to do so up to a late date. 



. "But a reaction has taken place since the fisheries have been paying so poorly, and owners have 

 refused to supply trawls for their Bankers owing to the extra expense and great loss of gear. For 

 fully eight years the tendency has been to do away with them among Bankers, and in 1878 and 

 1879 the same ideas are being advanced by the shore-fishermen, so that we now have but three 

 Bankers using trawls, and an occasional shore-fisherman hand-lining from deck and claiming to 

 make more money than the trawlers. 



"The price has also been affected so that instead of trawl fish bringing more, as they did up to 

 1876, we find the fresh-fish market at Booth Bay refusing to buy them, claiming that they will 

 neither keep as well in ice, nor stand shipping as the hand-line fish do." 



FRENCH METHODS OF TEAWLING IN 1843. The Gloucester Telegraph, of October 18, 1843, 

 has the following description of the French method of fishing with set lines or trawls on the Grand 

 Bank: 



" French vessels, it appears, mostly anchor in latitude 44 N. and longitude 50.20' W., in 

 about 45 fathoms water, veer 90 or 100 fathoms of cable, and prepare to catch codfish with two 

 J-inch lines of 3,000 fathoms long each. On these a small cork is placed at every 12 feet, and while 

 metal hooks, baited with parts of small fish (by us called kiblings) [capelins are no doubt meant], 



